


The individual unconscious

by Samusthedude



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, post cannon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2020-10-10 23:35:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 42,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20536484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samusthedude/pseuds/Samusthedude
Summary: Five years after Yu's stay in Inaba Ryotaro Dojima is comatose in the hospital, and some people around town have started acting strange. Nanako finds herself in the middle of this mess, and will have to team up with Yu and the detective team to solve one more mystery. (and hopefully save her dad.)Major plot spoilers for the true ending of Persona 4 and minor plot spoilers for P4 dancing all night.





	1. The phone call

**Author's Note:**

> This was very much a self indulgent fic. I am by no means a practiced writer but after playing through persona 4 and absolutely falling in love with Nanako I knew I needed more content; so I decided to write my own. This may share themes with other entries of the persona series but I've yet to play them.
> 
> Edit: Since I've started this fic I've played persona 3 FES and persona 5 Royal. The series just keeps on giving, and I'll be incorporating some ideas from these games into this, especially seeing as persona 5 has a similar structure to what I was going for.

It was strange, it was just about midnight and Nanako couldn't sleep. She lay awake in her room staring at the ceiling, the only sound in the house the ticking of the alarm clock next to her. Nanako frowned; she almost never had trouble sleeping. She wasn't sick, she hadn't gotten up late, she hadn't had any cola or caffeine before bed, there weren't any tests coming up she was nervous about. What could it possibly be? She heard the clock strike midnight and groaned; at this rate she'd have to struggle to stay awake through english class tomorrow.

Just as she was considering her options, she heard the phone ring from the living room. Since she was awake, she decided she might as well go pick it up. Dad hadn't come home yet, so maybe he wanted to leave a message for her to find in the morning. He'd been doing that lately when he had to work late, leaving little apologies and “I love you” messages. Nanako always looked forward to them; she knew how hard her dad worked, but since her kidnapping he'd been trying really hard to put Nanako first.

Nanako made her way to the living room and pulled the cordless phone off the receiver to answer it. “Hello, Dojima residence,” she spoke groggily; it seemed she was still tired even if she couldn't sleep.

“Hello, this is officer Mori Sonoda of the Inaba police. Am I speaking to Nanako?”

Nanako hesitated a moment; her dad always told her not to trust strangers, not in person or on the phone or online. She looked at the call display on the phone and saw the call was indeed coming from the police station, and decided it was probably safe.

“Yes, this is Nanako.”

“Nanako, there's...” The woman's voice trailed off for a moment. “There's been an accident involving your father. There are two officers on their way to your house right now.”

These words knocked Nanako right out of her grogginess. “An accident,” she stuttered, “what do you mean an accident? What happened? Is he ok? Where-”

Mori cut her off. “I don't have all the details at this time. All I know is that he's in the hospital right now and that the department is concerned for your safety. We'll be staying in touch with the officers that are looking after you and let you know as soon as we have any information.”

Nanako could tell that line was rehearsed; this was probably the woman who made all the calls like this. She stayed silent on the phone for a moment, her thoughts racing. She had too little to go off of, she was frustrated and scared, what was going to happen to her dad? Her thoughts were interrupted by Mori's voice.

“The officers should be there shortly, they will be officers Yuka and Kyoden. Make sure you check their badges before you let them in. Do you understand, Nanako?”

“Uh-huh,” is all she managed to get out. Her heart was pounding out of her chest and her voice was faltering as a result.

“Alright. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call the station or ask the officers with you. We promise to do everything we can for you and to keep you as up to date as possible.”

“Oh, ok. Uh- goodbye then.” Nanako ended the call and proceeded to just stand there phone in hand while she tried to process what just happened.

Before long there was a knock at her door, the officers that Mori mentioned in the call. Nanako checked their badges and let them in. As the door is opened she saw that there were several other police cars driving nearby. Kyoden seemed to sense the question before she could ask.

“We're setting up a perimeter around the house,” he explained. “We don't know if the guy who shot Dojima had a grudge so-”

“Dad was shot!?!” Nanako yelled.

Yuka glared at Kyoden, who scratched the back of his head. “Er- yes,” he started, “I guess whoever called you didn't have that information.”

“Is he ok? What's going to happen to him?” Nanako was borderline hysterical. So much had happened in such a short time, she was having a hard time coping with any of it.

“He's alive,” said Yuka, avoiding eye contact, “but that's all we know about his condition so far. We'll let you know if we get anything else.”

Kyoden stretched, “In the meantime it's really late. I know this is all very scary, but you should try to get some sleep. We'll wake you up if anything important happens. And uh... don't worry about school tomorrow, we'll contact your teachers to excuse you so you can get some rest and maybe see your dad if it works out.”

“Oh, ok...” Nanako was still stunned. Her dad had been shot, and she had no idea if he was going to be ok.

She walked back to her room, heart still pounding. She sat on her bed for some time, so much going through her mind that she couldn't sort any of it out. She looked down at her hands and realized that she forgot to dock the cordless. She looked at the time, almost 1:30am, and contemplated for a second. She decided after a few minutes to make the call; she needed someone to talk to right then, he'd understand.

* * *

Yu woke up to the sound of the Junes theme of all things. He quickly wiped his eyes and reached for his lamp. _What the hell's going on_, he thought, did he leave the TV on? Are the neighbours blaring theirs? As his eyes adjusted to the light he found neither to be the case, and that it was the cellphone next to his bed that was blaring the jingle.

He picked it up, the number came up as the Dojima household in his contacts. Right, he remembered he had set it to that last time he visited them to show off his new phone to Nanako. Must've forgotten to change it back to default after. With that question out of the way it was time to tackle the more pressing one; why was he getting a call from the Dojima's in the middle of the night? He accepted the call and put the phone to his ear, sitting on the side of the bed.

“Mh- hello?”

“Hey big bro...” It was Nanako's voice on the other end. Her voice trembled, almost like she had to force herself to speak. Normally Yu was elated to get a call from Nanako, but something was clearly wrong here.

“Hey Nanako,” he cleared his throat, trying to sound a little more present and not like he just woke up, “what's up? What's wrong?”

“It's...” She hesitated; he could hear her breath on the other side, as unstable as her speech. “It's dad, he's hurt.” Her voice broke on the word hurt, and his stomach sank.

“Hurt? Hurt how, what happened?” He tried to keep his voice calm but his worry ended up being more obvious than he'd hoped.

“I don't know.” She started crying into the phone. “The police said he was shot and at the hospital and now they're here 'cause they think the guy might come here and-” She broke down; only sobs could be heard on the other line.

He was wide awake now, and as concerned as he was for Dojima he knew that right now he needed to take care of Nanako.

“Hey, it's ok, I'm right here.”

“What if he doesn't come home?” She managed to get out between sobs. “What if he doesn't get better? What if I don't get to say goodbye? I don't want to be alone!” The sobs turned into wails. As much as it broke his heart to hear her like this he knew it was better out than in. He waited for just a moment before speaking again.

“Nanako, you're not going to be alone. Your dad loves you more than anything and is going to do everything he can to get back to you, just like you did when you were hurt.” He sighed, “I can't promise everything will be ok but I can promise that you won't be alone.”

“You...” she sniffled loudly into the phone, “you can?”

“Of course I can.” He paused, quickly contemplating his options. “I'll tell you what, how about I come and stay with you for a while? That way you don't have to be alone while your dad gets better.”

“Can you?” There was a hint of relief in her voice, “I know you're busy out there with school, I don't want to make you drop everything.” It was just like her to put others first, even in a situation like this.

“Of course.” Yu's voice rang with reassurance, “It'll be a couple days while I talk with my professor so I can still get my notes out there, but he's very understanding. And even if he wasn't, you know I'd drop everything for you.”

Her voice was still shaking, but that bit of hope seemed to have mostly calmed Nanako down. “Thanks so much big bro. I love you.”

“I love you too Nanako. Try to get some sleep, and call me whenever you need until I'm out there. I'll see you soon, ok?”

She took a deep breath. “Ok, goodnight...” There were a few seconds of hesitation before the phone line went dead.

Yu placed the phone back on his nightstand and laid on his bed. That was a lot to take in, Dojima apparently had been shot, and the injuries were serious enough Nanako was worried if he'd survive or not. Yu shook his head, he'd have to ask the Inaba police for more information once he was there. In the meantime he put together a to do list on his phone for the next day, turned off his lamp, and tried to get some sleep. Though this proved not to be an easy feat, his mind replaying his conversation with Nanako over and over. Eventually though his exhaustion won out, and at nearly 4am sleep finally found him once more.


	2. A friend in need

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yu gets his friends to watch Nanako while he tends to business in Tokyo.

Yu’s alarm rang out from his phone. Yu, still exhausted from the previous night, managed to hit snooze before properly waking up. The little sleep he had gotten was anything but restful, filled with images of Nanako and Ryotaro, memories of their time in the hospital five years prior, of holding Nanako’s hand as the ECG flatlined. His alarm sounded again, the digital beeping this time overcoming his fatigue. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, inhaling sharply as he sat up. He picked up his phone and entered his password to turn off the alarm. As the phone loaded his home screen he noticed the time was 9:00am, how did he manage to hit a five minute snooze six times?! He practically jumped out of bed and ran around his apartment grabbing everything he needed for the day and stuffing it haphazardly in his messenger bag. He didn’t have time to shower and have breakfast, so he decided to put on some extra deodorant and make some eggs. He would need the energy anyhow. He ate quickly, getting dressed as the eggs were cooking, and managed to get out of the building by 9:20. Nearly ten minutes behind his usual schedule, he alternated jogging and sprinting to the train station. As luck would have it the train was a couple minutes behind schedule and Yu had just enough time to catch his breath before it arrived, letting him on with the sea of other commuters.

As the train made its journey through Japan towards the University of Tokyo Yu checked the to-do list he had made just hours ago. The list contained four items; call Yosuke, talk to prof about e-lectures, cancel tutoring, buy train tickets. It’d be another half hour or so before he got to school, so he decided might as well make use of the time and call Yosuke. That way he might have more time to nap later.

* * *

Yosuke worked silently in the “instant noodles” aisle of Junes, headphones on listening to the newest Kanamin Kitchen album featuring Risette as he re-stocked the shelves. It was friday, and he was hoping tomorrow would be slow so that he might be able to start his weekend off early. The week had been easy, but that was more of a curse than a blessing as the staff was made to do all the boring tasks they couldn’t usually. As the song he was listening to was building to a drop, the music was cut off by his ringtone. Annoyed, he took off his headphones and fished his phone from his pocket, who the hell was calling him? Nobody actually makes phone calls anymore! He turned on the screen ready to reject the call, but stopped when he saw Yu was the one calling. He briefly peeked at both ends of the aisle to make sure there weren’t any staff or customers looking and, seeing the coast was clear, answered.

“Hey partner!” Yosuke spoke with the same cheery voice he always did, “is uh… is this important? Not that I don’t like hearing from you…” Yosuke stuttered before regaining his composure, “I’m just on the clock right now.” He held the phone to his ear with his shoulder as he continued stocking the shelves.

“Nice to hear you too Yosuke,” Yu chuckled, Yosuke really hadn’t changed since they met, “And yeah it’s pretty important, otherwise I would’ve texted instead of calling.” 

“Alright,” Yosuke’s tone became slightly more serious, “what’s up then?”

“I got a call last night at about 1:30…” Yu started.

“That would explain why you sound so tired.”

“That obvious huh?”

“You always sounded like this the day after we went into the TV.” Yosuke’s voice lightened back up, “Those seemed to be the only times you actually weren't super well rested. Hell you even managed to stay energetic through exams.” 

Yu and Yosuke both chucked, and proceeded to reminisce for the next several minutes. They’d been texting rather frequently but it had been too long since they actually spoke. It was nice, and it took a bit of the previous night’s pressure off of Yu. Eventually though Yosuke reeled the conversation back in, remembering he’s not supposed to be using his phone at work.

“Alright alright, you called me for a reason yeah? Something important?”

“Right,” Yu took a deep breath, “Nanako called me in the middle of the night, apparently Dojima’s been seriously hurt.”

“Wait, what?” Yosuke put the noodle boxes in his hand back into the wholesale box and stood up, taking the phone in his hand, “Is he ok? Do you know what happened?”

“I’m not sure,” Yu rubbed his eyes, trying to remember everything that was said in the call, “Nanako said that that there were police at her house, and that Dojima was shot and the police were worried about her.”

“Dude seriously?” Yosuke’s jaw dropped, Inaba had been mostly peaceful since the murders of 5 years ago. But now a police detective had been shot and it sounds like his condition is critical. “I’m so sorry, I know Dojima is like a second dad to you. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“There is actually,” The train announced Yu’s station coming up, so he made his way towards the doors, “could you check on Nanako tonight? Maybe bring her dinner? I’ll pay you back but she really needs someone to be there for her and I can’t be out there for at least a few days yet.”

“Of course dude, poor girl must be a wreck,” Yosuke saw a couple customers walking nearby and crouched back down to continue stocking shelves, “I’ll bring Teddie and a spread of food so we can make a night out of it. And don’t worry about paying me back, consider it thanks for the sweet kunai you bought me a while back.”

Yu could almost feel Yosuke’s smile from the other line. “Thanks partner, you’re a lifesaver.”

“Anytime man.. uh-oh.” Yosuke swore quietly into the phone, “just saw my dad walking. Gotta go, text ya later.” The line went dead as a distant voice shouted Yosuke’s name.

Yu put his phone back in his pocket and made his way to his morning class. He only had three classes this term, he took a couple of his mandatories over last summer so he’d be able to have some free extra time in his last term of his undergrad. Two were general science courses, a biology and a chemestry, that have the notes available online and you need only show up for test days. These would be easy enough to defer under university guidelines of sympathy. Remembering this, Yu takes out his to-do list again, checking off “call Yosuke” and adding “see faculty advisor.” Returning to his thoughts, it was the class he was currently going to that may take some working to let him leave for some time. This third class was an advanced placement psychology course, not necessary for the graduate program but having its credit would help him get in. The class size was a lot smaller and the professor wasn’t very tech savvy, which meant the notes weren’t online most of the time. That said he was a great guy, an excellent teacher, and hopefully as understanding as Yu cut him out to be.

He entered the small lecture hall and sat in his usual spot in the second to front row, taking his textbook and notes out and placing them on the table. The class only had a dozen students and they all specifically wanted to be there, which led to an excellent learning environment. The student’s talked among themselves until professor Yamatomo entered the hall. Yamamoto was a slim man in his mid thirties with dark brown hair that was short and well kept. He stood at two meters tall, taller than most of the students and most of his colleagues. He wore a simple white button up and beige slacks, and had a thin, stylish pair of glasses.

His lecture that day consisted mostly of a refresher of the parts of the human brain and their functions, as the next unit would be dipping into neurobiology in relation to psychology. Yu tried his best to pay attention, but with his fatigue combined with the fact that he already knew this information led to him visibly nodding off more than once. 

“Narukami!” Yamatomo shouted after the third nod, “Still with us?”

“Yes professor,” said Yu, lying.

“Well then, can you remind me what part of the brain is primarily responsible for most major motor functions?” he pointed to an unlabeled diagram of a human brain projected on the screen, split into most of its parts, “And if you could write where on the brain it is.” He held out a black dry erase marker. Yu stood and took the marker, giving his head a quick shake to wake himself up on the way to the whiteboard. The professor had gone easy on him, using an example that had been mentioned in the previous unit, and Yu was able to recall the answer and identify the back lower region of the brain, labelling it “Cerebellum.” 

“Excellent. I’ll assume you’re so tired from being up all night studying then,” the professor smiled widely as Yu returned to his seat. “Now, who can tell me…” His words trailed off in Yu’s mind, as he spent the rest of the lecture trying to stay awake rather than paying attention.

As the lecture ended and the class filed out Yu approached professor Yamatomo. “Do you have some time professor, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“Don’t worry about today,” Yamatomo chuckled to himself, “I’m not insulted, I remember being in uni unlike some of the other profs here. You’re a great student so I trust you won’t make a habit of it.”

“While I appreciate that sir there really is something I need to talk to you about.” The few minutes of sleep Yu had gotten over the period seemed to have given him the energy to function at least. Or maybe it was the eggs.

“Oh, well in that case follow me to my office. I have a few things I need to do but we can talk at the same time.” With that, he led Yu to his office one building over. Yu’s heart sank for a moment as Yamatomo made his way to the stairwell rather than the elevator, but his worry was lifted from him when they stopped on the third floor. The walk to the office only took about eight minutes, during which the two discussed class topics and psychology in general. As they arrived, Yamatomo gestured for Yu to sit on a small couch as he went to sit behind his desk. The office was rather small, only furnished with a simple particle board desk that held Yamatomo’s computer and the black pleather couch Yu was sitting. Aside from those there was only a steel filing cabinet, a white mini fridge and a few pictures of Yamatomo’s relatives and wife.

“So,” Yamatomo looked at Yu from over his monitor as he proceeded to start typing hunt-and-peck style, “what’s this you needed to talk to me about?”

“Well, to make a long story short my uncle out in Inaba’s been seriously hurt, and my little cousin doesn’t have a caregiver right now.”

“Oh my,” Yamatomo shifted his monitor so he could stop peering over it, “that’s pretty serious. What about your aunt, can’t she take care of your cousin?”

“She died almost a decade ago.” Yu adjusted his position on the couch as to not get too comfortable and fall asleep.

“Oh…” Yamatomo shifted his eyes away from Yu, “sorry about that.”

“It’s alright, I never really knew her...” Yu lowered his head, “My uncle, my cousin and I are very close. I spent my second year of high school out in Inaba with them, at this point there just as much family as my parents, if not more.” Yu’s voice started to choke up, “Nanako’s like the little sister I never had, and right now she’s terrified wondering if her dad’s going to come home.” Maybe it was the fatigue, or the fact that he was saying this out loud, but tears began to fall from Yu’s eyes. “She’s in a really rough spot, and I wanna go help out,” he wiped the tears from his face and took a breath, “so I’m hoping we can arrange for you to send me the lectures electronically. That way I don’t fall behind while I’m out there.”

Yamatomo entwined his fingers and rested his chin on them, putting his elbows on the arms of his chair, “While I’m sympathetic to your plight Yu, and I do want to help you out, I’ll need to ask a few things from you first.”

“Yes, of course,” Yu cleared his throat, “what do you need?”

“Well first off I can’t send any graded tests to you, even if I trusted you wouldn’t cheat the university wouldn’t have it. So you’d have to come back to the city for tests and exams. Could you do that?”

“Yeah, of course. I’ve got friends in Inaba that could watch Nanako for a couple days while I’m taking the tests.”

“Good. Beyond that I’ll need some form of proof your uncle is actually hurt, something like a police report or a hospital record that I can bring to the department.”

“I can get you that, I’ll probably need it for my other classes as well.”

Yamatomo leaned back in his chair, nodding slowly. “Alright, the last thing is if you want actual notes you’ll have to ask another student to send them to you. I’ll be able to send you the slides via email, or more likely I’ll get a grad student to do it,” he chuckled, “but I don’t have the time or staff to designate a note taker.”

Yu breathed a sigh of relief, he knew Yamatomo would be understanding but he was worried it would end up being a much more complicated process. “I’ll ask around before I go. Thanks so much professor, this means a lot.” He stood up to shake Yamatomo’s hand.

“You’re a good man Yu, and I trust you’ll be responsible even away from the classroom.” Yamatomo took Yu’s hand and gave it a firm shake. “Now go take a nap,” he said re-adjusting his monitor, “you look like you’re about to drop dead.”

Yu nodded, “Will do, and thanks again.”

Yamatomo shooed Yu out of his office with one hand, and Yu happily left. He still had much to do that day, but he decided to take Yamatomo’s advice for the moment. He remembered there was a spot in the library that would be perfect for just this occasion.

* * *

Nanako woke as the sun coming through her windows hit her eyes. She rolled over in her bed clutching onto a blue stuffed bunny Kanji had made her, still emotionally and physically exhausted from the previous night. Part of her thought it could have just been a bad dream, that when she got up she’d see there were no police in the house and a message from her dad on the answering machine. She didn’t dare open her eyes to face reality, she wanted to believe this as long as she could. She lay in bed for hours, eyes closed, pretending things were ok. There inevitably came a knock on her bedroom door, officer Yuka spoke from the other side. “Are you awake Nanako?” 

This broke the fantasy Nanako was trying to hold onto, and the weight of the previous night returned with full force. It was bound to happen sooner or later, but it didn’t make the reality hurt any less. “Yes,” she grumbled, “I’m awake.”

“I just wanted to check in, stay in bed as long as you like. Would you like me to make you breakfast?” Yuka spoke softly, and waited for Nanako’s response. When she was met only with silence she spoke again “May I come in a moment?”

Nanako hesitated, she generally didn’t like people in her room let alone strangers. But in the moment she felt being around someone might feel better than being alone. “Ok.” Her voice betrayed her reluctance.

Yuka entered the room and turned on the light. The room was what you would expect of a twelve year old girl, if better kept. It was a reasonably sized room with enough space for the small cherrywood desk in the corner, the similar pink shelves that held brightly coloured notebooks and several stuffed animals, an electric practice keyboard, and the futon Nanako slept on. The walls were plain white, and the furniture and nicknacks were all pastel colours, fall tones being most prevalent. She sat at the foot of the bed, Nanako facing opposite her still wrapped up in her blankets. She sat silently for a moment, taking a deep breath before she started to speak again.

“We got some news about your dad. He’s ok for now.”

This made Nanako turn around to face the officer. She hadn’t gotten the best look at her the previous night, what with all the emotional distress and panic. She seemed to be a woman in her mid thirties, rather muscular with slightly broad shoulders. She had blonde almost white hair that she kept in a ponytail and brown eyes. While she wore her uniform yesterday the only pieces of it that remained was the hat, badge and holster. Besides that she wore a simple grey t-shirt and a pair of jeans. As Nanako’s eyes caught hers, Yuka continued.

“He had to go in for surgery, the bullet ended up in a lung so the doctors had to remove it and repair the damage it made. They were successfully able to remove it, and your dad’s in recovery right now.”

This was great news, but it didn’t feel great to Nanako. Something about all of this felt off, like there was something she was missing. Over the years she was able to develop a sense of when adults are keeping something from her, mostly from when her dad would leave details out of a case he was working on when he explained it to her. Yuka was definitely hiding something.

The two sat in silence for another few minutes, the presence of another person nearby helping keep Nanako calm. Eventually Nanako broke the silence, “Is he going to be ok?”

Yuka sighed, this was what she was hoping to avoid, “We can’t be sure, but he has a fighting chance at least. He’s not fit for visit yet, but when he is you’ll be the first to know.”

Nanako expected an answer like this, she hoped it wouldn’t be but still. The reality of the situation was still setting in, and each sentence made it more real in her mind. She didn’t have the energy to try to deal with her emotional state, and instead rolled back over and closed her eyes again. She felt Yuka’s hand touch her shoulder before hearing her get off the bed, turn off the lights, and close the door.

Nanako slept on and off throughout the whole day. Her mind raced the entire time, thoughts and memories and fears all flowing without any rhyme or reason. It was as if they were all held behind a dam that had a massive crack in it that kept getting larger, and Nanako didn’t care enough to try to patch it. So she slept, and she cried, and she worried. She stayed in bed until evening, by then she had cried so much that there wasn’t much more crying she could do. She put one of her old dresses on and went to use the bathroom before going to the living room. Yuka was there watching the news on the TV, and the other officer that was there last night didn’t seem to be. 

“Oh good, you’re up,” Yuka flashed a smile at Nanako, “how are you feeling.”

“Ok i guess…” Nanako sat at the table, “where’s officer Kyoden?”

“He had some business to attend to back at the station. There’s still a perimeter around the house so the department felt it was ok to only have one officer stationed inside.”

Nanako nodded. The news droned on in the background, something about a research project analysing sleep cycles.

“Do you want to change the channel?” Yuka asked, noticing Nanako’s disinterest.

“No its ok. I think I’ll make a hot chocolate and then go back to my room.”

“Do you need any help, or can you do it yourself?”

“I can do it.”

Yuka couldn’t help but smile a bit. She didn’t know Mr. Dojima very well, but she could see his stubbornness and self-sufficiency in little Nanako. She sat on the couch, continuing to watch the news as Nanako boiled the water. A moment later the radio she had placed on the table sounded, “Come in officer Yuka.”

Nanako couldn’t hear it over the sound of boiling water. Still, Yuka turned down the speaker volume before responding. “Go ahead.”

“There are two young men here who claim to know Nanako. We patted them down, no weapons, just a bunch of sushi. They seem harmless enough so we’re walking them to the front door. Get Nanako with you when you answer it so she can ID them.”

“Understood.”

Yuka turned the speaker back up and placed the radio back on the table. Just as Nanako was mixing the hot chocolate powder into the water the doorbell rang. Yuka decided she’s answer the door first, then call Nanako, just as an extra precaution. Indeed the two boys she saw at the door were practically the definition of non threatening, even with the two officers practically escorting them. She leaned back into the house to address Nanako. “Hey Nanako,” she raised her voice so it could be heard, “do you know these people.”

Nanako raised an eyebrow, who could be at the door? It was unlike any of her friends to check in on her after being absent only one day, unless word got out her dad was hurt. She took her hot chocolate in hand and walked toward the door. As she peeked around the corner to see the entrance, she was surprised to see Yosuke and Teddie standing there arms full of Junes grocery bags. She stepped forward and greeted her friends. “Hi Yosuke, hi Teddie.”

“Hey Nanako,” Yosuke spoke in his usual cheery voice, “your big bro gave us a call. Said you were having a rough time and might want some company. You ok if we come in? We brought dinner.” He said as he raised the grocery bags. 

Nanako couldn’t help but smile a little, she saw these two around town and they always talked when they crossed paths, but they never really spent time together unless Yu was around. Regardless, she considered Yosuke and Teddie especially to be friends, and the fact they were there proved it. “Of course.”

That seemed sufficient for Yuka, who let the two in and dismissed the officers leading them there. Yosuke set about getting things ready to eat while Teddie approached Nanako. Teddie was always a strange fellow, she was told he was Yosuke’s cousin from europe which explained a lot of his odd behaviour but not all of it. For instance, it didn’t explain his obsession with bears, or his persistent childishness. It also didn’t explain how he looked so close to how he did in high school. Teddie was the only person Nanako knew that never seemed to get older, but this didn’t bother her at all. In fact, it was nice to have someone unchanging in a time like this. He kneeled in front of Nanako to be at eye level with her.

“Hey there Nana-chan,” unlike Yosuke, Teddie seemed much gloomier than usual, “I’m sorry to hear what happened. But since Yosuke told me, your Teddie can be here for any necessary hugs!” Saying this, he outstretched his arms. Nanako was instantly drawn to them; sure if her classmates heard that she’d be embarrassed but Teddie and Yosuke were safe people. A good hug was exactly what she needed right now, and so she held on tightly to Teddie and nuzzled her face into his shoulder.

Yosuke smiled sadly at the two hugging it out on the ground. It was good that he brought Teddie, but it was unfortunate that he had too. He hoped silently that things would turn out well, and sooner rather than later. He noticed out of his peripheral that the officer that introduced herself at the door was approaching him.

“Yosuke, was it?” She spoke as she helped get plates ready. “You said Nanako’s ‘big bro’ told you about the situation. I wasn’t aware she had any siblings.”

It made sense that Yuka had these questions, Yosuke thought. After all, the police still didn’t know if the shooter was after Nanako or not. That said Yosuke had nothing to worry about, Nanako could corroborate anything he said; though that thought didn’t keep him from getting nervous under the officer’s interrogative tone.

“It’s not really her brother, its her cousin. He spent a year out here a while ago and they got real close. He lives out in Tokyo right now but he makes sure to come visit once or twice a year if he can. Not just Nanako but all his other friends that are still here.”

“I see.” Yuka didn’t press further. 

The two continued to prepare the meal in a semi awkward silence. Once all the food was trayed they moved everything to the table and everyone sat down to eat. Nanako sat in Teddie’s lap for the meal, which he didn’t seem to mind at all. There was some small talk during the meal, mostly directed to Nanako as to help keep her mind busy, but overall the atmosphere was rather quiet. 

Eventually Nanako spoke up unprompted, “So big bro called you earlier right?”

Yosuke finished chewing his shrimp nigiri, “Yeah, just this morning.”

“Did he say when he would get here?”

“He told me it would be a few days still, but I can always text him for an update.”

“No, that’s ok. He said I could call him whenever.”

At this point Yuka spoke up, “When did you tell your ‘big bro’ about all of this?”

“I told him last night before I went back to bed,” she smiled sadly, “he’s always good to talk to.”

“And he’s going to come here?”

“Yeah, he offered to stay here while dad gets better. Is that ok?”

Yuka bore a warm smile, “Of course it is. It actually saves the department some trouble, we were having a hard time locating and contacting family that could come take care of you.” 

The rest of the night had a slightly more cheery tone, as the conversation shifted to the topic of Yu; Yuka would ask questions about him and Nanako would eagerly answer with Yosuke and Teddie filling in some details. Eventually the boys went home, after assuring Nanako that they were never more than a phone call away. Leaving the house with just Nanako and Yuka once more.

The visit made Nanako feel slightly better, though now that the two were gone that empty feeling was slowly creeping back up on her. Before it got the chance to hit her, Yuka addressed her once more.

"Those two friends of your cousin's seem like good people. Though I must say that 'Teddie' is an odd one."

"They're my friends too…" Nanako grumbled.

"Sorry, I didn't quite hear that."

"I said he's weird, but he's really nice. And he cares a lot about me." She decided not to repeat herself. 

"He certainly does." Noticing Nanako's annoyed tone she dropped the conversation. "Would you help me clean up the dishes? If you'd rather go back to your room I understand."

"No its ok, I can help clean up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much actually happened in this chapter, but it was nice writing the setup for later events.


	3. Visitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It would be several days until Yu could make it out to Inaba. Luckily there was a squad of people ready to help Nanako feel better... or at the very least distract her for a few hours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another slow chapter, maybe I should add the slowburn tag?  
Either way, action will eventually come. In the meantime, enjoy more character interaction.

The next several days blurred together for Nanako. Most of them were spent in her room, where she'd mostly lay in bed. Occasionally she'd move to her desk and write in her journal, or to her keyboard to practice. She generally only left her room to use the bathroom or to eat; though she wasn't very hungry these days, only eating dinner and some snacks throughout the day. Each night the perimeter of police around her house would thin, as it was decided there was less of a threat. Each morning she'd wake up and pretend it was all a bad dream; only for reality to consume her like a rising tide when Yuka would come in and tell her things hadn't changed. Luckily for her, she had a different visitor each day to help take her mind off it. Even if just for an hour or two. 

The first night Chie came over with some kung-fu movies and a big bag of popcorn. She greeted Nanako with a smile, "Yosuke told me about your situation. I know when I wanna forget about everything going on around I pop in one of these bad boys." 

She had managed to keep the tone of the evening light, having brought plot light action packed flicks. She narrowly avoided a crisis when she realized the next movie they were going to watch had the protagonist avenging his murdered father; claiming the disk was scratched and skipping to the next one. Nanako enjoyed the time spent with Chie, letting herself get lost in a world of make believe for as long as she could. The two struck poses and mimicked the cries of the actors through many of the action scenes; a sight that had Yuka struggling not not laugh. As the night got late Nanako ended up falling asleep in front of the TV. Chie helped Yuka put her to bed before packing up her movies. 

The two women spoke as Chie was preparing to return home.

“I was a pleasure to meet you miss Satonaka,” Yuka said, extending her hand, “and a pleasure to have you over.”

She took Yuka’s hand and gave it a firm shake, “Pleasure’s all mine. Anything I can do to help poor little Nanako.”

“And you’ve helped quite a bit. You and Mr. Hanamura so far have been the only people able to coax her out of her room for more than a few minutes at a time. Plus I’m sure that bit of physical exertion was good for her mental health.” Yuka laughed quietly to herself. A moment later her expression grew dark; she took a deep breath and leaned against the wall. “I wish there was more I could do for her. It breaks my heart every time I have to go into her room to tell her that her dad is still in intensive care.”

“Yeah…” Chie mumbled, “She’s really too young to have to face this…”

The two stood in silence for some time, unsure of what to say (if anything.) Eventually Chie stressed that she should be heading home, wishing Yuka a good night and leaving the Dojima household.

* * *

The second day Naoto stopped in, Yuka recognized her at the door. 

"Detective Shirogane,” she asked, surprised, “what brings you here?"

"Ah, officer Mifune. It's good to see you again. Is Nanako Dojima here? I’ve come to ask a few questions.” The detective prince was all business, as usual.

The two caught up as Yuka led Naoto to Nanako’s room. They had worked together during the TV killer case those years ago and had formed a work friendship, greeting each other at the station and occasionally having lunch together. As they approached, they could hear slow music being played from a synthetic piano. Yuka smiled softly, “Well at least she’s out of bed. That’s been taking quite the convincing these days.”

“Indeed,” Naoto began, “the circumstances have likely re-surfaced some previous traumas that went mostly unaddressed. Even now I’d bet she’s avoiding dealing with them, trying instead to feel nothing.” She looked downward and put her hands in her pockets, “I myself have some experience with that.”

Yuka nodded; among the conversations she and Naoto had had, it was mentioned that Naoto’s parents died in a car accident when she was quite young. It would make sense for her to understand some of what Nanako is going through.

Nanako didn’t hear the whispers on the other side of her door over the music coming from the practice keyboard’s speakers; though she did hear the knock. She stopped playing and swiveled to face its direction, “Yes?”

“Detective Naoto Shirogane is here to speak with you,” Yuka said through the door, “May we come in?”

This was quite the surprise for Nanako, Naoto had been in the city for several weeks and wasn’t expected back for at least another two. (or so Kanji told her the last time they spoke.) She contemplated a second, weighing whether it was worse to have people in her room or to have to leave it herself. In the end she decided it would be ok to have Naoto come in, she knew her well enough after all. She quickly straightened out her pyjamas with her hands before telling the two to come in.

Yuka opened the door and turned on the light, Nanako had been reading her sheet music by the sunlight filtering in through her window. Naoto stepped in, dressed in her androdginous detective’s clothes, and approached Nanako.

“Could we have a moment?” She asked, turning to look at Yuka.

“Of course, I’ll be just outside.” Yuka closed the door, leaving the two alone.

The silence in contrast to the music that had just been playing weighed on Nanako. It was a reminder that the house was mostly empty. Generally this didn’t bother her; she was quite used to being alone for long periods of time. But the idea that it might stay that way was haunting.

Naoto gestured to the chair by the desk, “May I sit?” she asked, breaking the momentary silence.

Nanako nodded, “Of course.”

She pulled up the chair to face Nanako, a serious expression worn on her face. Nanako didn’t see this face very often, and when she did it was never for long. She wore this face when she was on the job, but usually it would soften when they saw each other or spoke. This impromptu visit seemed to be work related, so the seriousness was to be expected. Still, it was a little unnerving. Naoto began talking as she fished a notepad from her front pocket.

“The case I was working on in Okina wound down much earlier than expected. This allowed me to begin coming home at night, since the work days became much shorter.” She pulled a mechanical pencil from behind her ear, “I stopped by the station to pick up some paperwork yesterday and heard about your situation. I didn't have to be in the city today, so I thought it would be a good idea to stop by. I’d like to do some of my own investigating on your father’s case if that’s alright with you.”

The sentence brought a strange mix of emotions to Nanako. She was happy to see Naoto, and happy she was going to help figure out who hurt her dad; but the fact that the detective felt the need to help was concerning to say the least. At the same time, Nanako had already told Yuka and other officers everything she knew, which was not much at all. She wasn’t much in the mood for being interviewed, but she decided to cooperate for the moment. Who knows, maybe something useful would come out of it. 

Seeing her purse her lips in frustration, Naoto gave a soft sigh. “I know what your going through is hard, and scary,” she started, her expression softening ever so slightly, “and I know you probably don’t want to think about it right now. I’m not going to go crazy with the questions, just a few basics so I have somewhere to start. And you can always choose to not answer if its uncomfortable.”

Nanako’s face lost some of its tension, and she nodded slowly. “I’ll do my best to answer,” she said softly.

Naoto nodded back, flipping her notepad to a fresh page. “First things first, you don’t know of anyone specific who holds a grudge against your dad, correct?”

Nanako shook her head, “No one I can think of.”

Naoto jotted a quick note, “Do you know anything about the case your dad was working on? Even little details can be useful here.”

Nanako thought hard for a moment, racking her brain for details; her dad didn’t like to talk about work at home, and even less so about the specifics of his cases. The little bits she did get were vague overviews from her dad and overheard pieces of phone calls. 

“He said he was working on finding a new drug. Apparently some people were making it here? Or maybe they were bringing it here…” she paused, metally sifting through the information, “Its supposed to be made of really weird stuff, not like any other drug the police know about. And it's supposed to do weird stuff to your brain. So he was looking for the people making it so it doesn’t end up getting sold.”

Naoto wrote the entire time Nanako spoke. She cauked her head at the end of the last sentence. “How did he know about the drug and what it does if it wasn’t yet being distributed?”

Nanako shrugged, “I dunno, maybe one of the guys making it is an undercover police or something.”

Naoto placed her hand on her chin, then closed the notepad and placed the pencil back behind her ear. “This will be a good place to start. With what I was able to gather at the police station I should at least have a heading,” she stood up and placed the chair back at the cherrywood desk, “Thank you very much Nanako, I’ll let you know if I come up with any leads.”

“You’re welcome,” she muttered quietly in reply.

Naoto took another look at the young girl; in her eyes she saw a familiar loneliness. She realized she’d been so caught up in the detective aspect of helping that she’d forgotten to provide moral support. And while she admittedly wasn’t the best at that, she knew at the very least she had to try. She stopped moving towards the door and faced Nanako once more. “Do you happen to have a chessboard?”

It was Nanako’s turn to look back at her quizzically, “Yeah, why?”

“It’s uh- It’s been too long since I’ve had the chance to play,” she stuttered, “if you’d like I’d be glad to play with you, spend some time together.”

This was more the woman that Nanako knew; a little awkward, but always trying to help others out. She couldn’t help but smile a little. “I’d like that.” She got up to get the board and pieces from the living room closet. “Don’t expect me to go easy on you,” she said with a smirk.

The two played chess and various other strategy and trivia games throughout the day. Nanako was thankful to have the distraction; and it was good to exercise her brain against the genius detective. Both girls were rather intelligent, especially for their respective ages. Naoto found she couldn’t let her guard down, as Nanako would take the advantage any time she did. Eventually Kanji showed up (prompted by a text from Naoto) to check in on the two of them and give Nanako his condolences. He ended up joining in for some of the more luck based board games, deciding not to bother testing raw intelligence against the girls. 

“It’s funny,” Kanji started during a trivia board game, “despite not being the ‘tough guy’ for years now, I still have some of the reputation.”

“Really?” Nanako asked.

“Yeah,” he chuckled, “even just coming to the house I had two different cops stop me and pat me down.” 

Nanako giggled, Kanji was a big softie. Though she knew about his tough guy phase he’d been nothing but nice to her since they met. And he was the best stuffed animal maker ever to boot. While he was still big and strong, and his voice could get scary when he was mad, the light blue button up he was wearing made him look anything but tough.

Naoto muttered, seemingly lost in thought looking at her hand of cards, “If I were one of those officers I’d want to pat you down too,” realizing too late that she was speaking her thoughts instead of just thinking them. She hoped for a moment that no one had heard her, only to go beat red as Nanako asked, “Why would you want to pat him down.”

She stuttered, unable to say any actual words due to how flustered she was. Luckily Kanji was quick on his feet, “It’s because uh- I have a criminal record here in Inaba. It's like procedure or somethin’ to make sure I’m in no way a threat. Isn’t that right Naoto?”

Naoto breathed a sigh of relief, “Yes, you took the words right out of my mouth.”

Nanako didn’t buy it, but decided not to press further. She knew Kanji and Naoto had been living together for a few months, it would be their choice to let people know whether they were together or not. The three played until just past dark before Kanji and Naoto left. But the day overall did make Nanako feel just a bit better.

* * *

The third night a classmate and close friend Sui went to give her the weeks homework and check in on her. Sui was built similarly to Nanako, but was a few inches taller as she had already started her growth spurt. She had dirty blonde hair that naturally curled and sat just below shoulder length. She had brown eyes, freckles along her nose and cheeks, and pearly white teeth that were studded with silver braces. Along with the assignment, she carried a thermos of hot chicken soup. 

"Hey there Nanako," She was obviously concerned, doubly so after Yuka answered the door and introduced herself as ‘officer’. "are you ok? What's going on?"

"Hi Sui." While it was good to see her, Nanako was hoping to avoid her classmates as long as she could. It was so easy for word of something to spread in Inaba so she wanted to keep the truth about her dad a secret as long as she possible. It was bad enough Yu's friends were worried about her, she didn't want her classmates to worry too. Even if part of her liked the attention. "Is that the assignment?"

"Oh, uh-yeah," Sui managed to get out. She wasn't expecting Nanako to just dodge the question like that. Usually they told each other everything.  _ Well maybe not everything, _ she thought; but they were very close and it was unlike Nanako to close herself off like this. "I could explain it to you if you want. The math will be easy for you I'm sure but the reading comprehension is worded a bit funny."

"Thanks, but I think I'll be ok. If I have any problems I'll call you." There was a darkness to Nanako's voice that Sui had never heard before. She didn't sound sick, but she did sound awful.

Sui approached her, setting the packet of paper and thermos on the kitchen table. She gently took Nanako's hands and tried to look her in the eye; though Nanako was purposefully avoiding the eye contact. "What's wrong Nanako, you don't seem like yourself."

This is exactly what she wanted to avoid. She'd known Sui for years now. It was the longest friendship Nanako ever had, and the closest one she'd ever had at school. She was hoping to only tell her after the fact, that way they could be happy together when everything turned out ok. But in this moment, the sadness in her best friend's voice brought out the sadness Nanako had been trying to ignore. Before she could get a word of response out she burst into tears. Sui quickly brought Nanako into a big hug, holding her tightly while trying not to cry herself.

Yuka looked at the girls from the kitchen sink as she was finishing the dishes. She could hardly stand to see Nanako this way. She didn't have any kids of her own, nor any real experience with them. She did all she could to console her, but Nanako wouldn't open up more than she had to. There really wasn't anything Yuka could think to do to help. She was thankful Nanako's cousin Yu would be showing up soon. The station did a check on him and everything seemed to be in order. The only red flag raised was that he supposedly visited Tohru Adachi "the T.V. killer" in prison on a couple occasions; though Mr. Adachi  _ was  _ Mr. Dojima's partner during Yu's stay in Inaba, so perhaps he had gone on his behalf. Regardless, it would be good for everyone once he arrived.

Once Nanako had cried herself out, she and Sui sat in the living room and spoke of the last week or so. Nanako told Sui about her dad, saying he was in a work accident instead of telling her he was shot, but leaving the rest of the details intact. Sui talked about school and how rumour was already starting to spread that whatever put Nanako in the hospital five years ago was active again. The two kept talking for almost two hours, alternating between crying and laughing. It wasn't the night Nanako wanted, but it was definitely what she needed; she'd been bottling it up to avoid feeling worse. The catharsis of letting it out in the moment outweighed the fear she felt of implicating another person she cared about. 

As the sun set Sui took gave Nanako one last hug before getting her bag and putting on her shoes. “I promise to come visit when I can, and to keep the rumours down at school.” The two girls smiled at each other.

“Thanks Sui, once things are better I’ll come back to school.”

Sui’s smile grew on her face, “Don’t rush yourself. But I’ll be excited when you’re back!”

Nanako waved as she left, walking home while the sun was still out.

* * *

  
  


The fourth night there once again came a knock at the door. Nanako was dressed and out of her room; she felt a little bit better after Sui came over the previous day and decided to do her assignments in the living room. That way she could watch TV when she was taking a break. The steady flow of work and entertainment helped keep her mind from wandering too far into the void it had been in for nearly the last week. 

It was just after dinner; Nanako was doing some dishes (she felt bad leaving all the cleaning to Yuka for the last few days) as Yuka went to answer the door. Nanako heard little of the conversation in the entrance over the sound of the dishes in the water. Just some quiet words and a ‘may I see your ID.’ Curiosity was starting to get the better of her. Most of Yu’s friends had already visited her, and Yukiko was busy at the inn these days, so it probably wasn’t one of them. Yuka wouldn't want ID from one of her classmates. Maybe it was someone her dad knew? 

As she put the next plate on the drying rack, Yuka called her.

“Nanako, could you come here a moment?” 

She dried her hands and walked cautiously to the door. Maybe it was another detective who wanted to ask questions or look through the house. The thought brought back some of that heavy feeling she had mostly managed to ignore that day. As she turned the corner, however, her eyes lit up. Standing at the entrance with a suitcase and a backpack was none other than her cousin Yu.

“Big bro!” She moved with a speed and energy Yuka had yet to see from the twelve year old. Yu quickly dropped to his knees and opened his arms, just in time for Nanako to jump into them. He held her close as she nuzzled her face into his neck. She was overjoyed to see him; as much as she loved her other friends he was her one and only big bro. He always knew how to make things better. Now that he was here she felt safe, and that safety brought out all the emotions she was bottling up over the last few days. She thought that she'd cried all the tears she had over the last few days, but now that her big bro was here it was like the dam she had put up burst. Yu held her tightly as she quietly wept onto his shirt.

“I’m sorry I couldn't be here sooner,” he whispered, “but I’m here now. And I’m not going anywhere.”

Her quiet weeping turned into sobs. She held her bro tighter, basking in the comfort provided in just being there. Yuka took the queue to give the two some space, taking a moment to pack the few belongings she had in the house. Once Nanako had calmed down enough, she approached the two still in the entrance.

“I trust you can take things from here,” she said to Yu, “you have my contact information if you need me. I’ll also be the one sending you updates on Mr. Dojima’s condition, so don’t hesitate to reach out if need be.” 

Yu smiled, now standing and carrying Nanako who still held on tightly. “Thank you, and thanks for taking care of her.”

She let out an airy laugh, “Your friends did the hard part, I just helped look after the house.”

Yu scoffed, “I’m sure you helped more than you give yourself credit for.”

“Yuka,” Nanako said quietly, wiping her nose with her sleeve, “thank you. It was good to have someone in the house. I’m sorry I didn’t help out more while you were here.”

Yuka shook her head, “I’m the one who should be saying that. It was no bother at all Nanako. Hopefully we’ll meet again under better circumstances.”

With that, she gave a nod to Yu and left the Dojima household; closing the door behind her.

* * *

Once Yu placed his belongings in his old room, he and Nanako sat on the couch. Nanako was holding onto his arm tightly while sitting on his lap; she hadn’t realized how much she’d been holding in until he showed up. He was more than happy to be there to comfort her.

“So, what happened between Thursday night and today?” Yu asked, both out of curiosity and because he wanted to see what he could gather about Nanako’s state, now that she was mostly calm.

“Well, Friday Yosuke and Teddie came by with dinner. Saturday Chie brought Kung fu movies to watch,” Nanako’s voice was nearly steady, she was already sounding a bit more like herself, “Sunday Naoto came and asked some questions about dad, but then me and Kanji and her played a bunch of board games. And then yesterday Sui came by to check up on me and give me this week's homework.”

“Hm,” Yu turned his head, raising his chin slightly, “I didn’t think Naoto would be assigned to investigate this.”

“She wasn’t, she said she was doing her own investigation.”

Yu chuckled, of course Naoto took it upon herself to look things through. That girl always needed a project. Still, if anyone could get to the bottom of things it was her. And he was sure it came from a place of genuinely wanting to help first and keeping busy second.

“How about you big bro?” Nanako asked, “What did you do the last few days?”

“Well lets see. Friday morning I talked with Yosuke to let him know what’s up, and then talked to my professors. Saturday I got all the paperwork I needed to take my classes from my laptop out here. Sunday I talked with the students I was tutoring and let them know I wouldn’t be available for one-on-ones but they could send me questions. And then yesterday I packed my things and came here.”

Nanako looked at her cousin with a bit of awe. It seemed his life was more together than even her dad’s. It wasn’t really a surprise; Yu was at the top of his class when he was living in Inaba, and he managed to stay there while helping take care of the house and Nanako  _ and _ still having time to be social _AND_ do part time jobs. She looked up to him, and she was glad he was doing so well for himself; but it made her feel bad that she took him away from everything he was doing. She hated being inconvenient…

The two yawned loudly, one after the other; peering at the time Yu saw it was a quarter to midnight, a fair bit past Nanako’s bedtime. Yu looked at her as she blinked slowly, seemingly on the verge of falling asleep. Just like years before, he took her in his arms and carefully carried her to her bed. As he tucked her in her arms stayed wrapped around his neck, not wanting to let go.Yu couldn’t help but smile softly. 

“I’ll be right upstairs if you need me ok? Don’t be afraid to ask me for anything while I’m here.” He gave her a big hug and a kiss on the forehead. “I love you little sis.”

This seemed sufficient for the half asleep Nanako. She smiled, letting go of him and rolling onto her side. “Love you too big bro,” She mumbled. For the first time in a week she was at relative peace, and it didn’t take long for sleep to consume her that night.


	4. A new guest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako finds herself in the Velvet room. Yu and Nanako go visit the still comatose Ryotaro Dojima.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be prepared for some hurt/comfort

Nanako’s eyes slowly blinked open. She felt confused, why was she already sitting up? She distinctly remembered her big bro putting her to bed. She rubbed her eyes and took stock of her surroundings. Her confusion grew stronger as she realized this was not her bedroom. She was sitting on a blue velvet armchair, though smaller than most armchairs she’d seen. It was almost as if it was fitted to her. She seemed to be in some sort of library, or at least a small room of one. Tall bookshelves lined the walls and small tables with chairs peppered the silvered floor. Most of the room was shades of blue, save some of the books on the shelves and the occasional white and silver accents. It looked well taken care of, and everything from the furniture to the crown moulding screamed high class. A beautiful song filled the space, a soprano voice singing over an orchestra and piano. Nanako looked for the source of the song but found no hint of where it came from. It was almost as if it emanated from the room itself; and something about the gentle melody helped put her at ease. 

Across from her, sitting behind a beautiful darkwood desk, sat the most peculiar man she had ever seen in her life. He was an old man, she guessed maybe in his seventies, with no hair on the top of his head but shoulder length grey hair growing from the sides. He was very thin, and wore a well fitted black suit and white gloves. His eyes were a bit too big for his face, with only small dots as pupils, that all sat under big bushy eyebrows. He had a pointy nose that extended almost thirty centimeters from his face and long pointed ears, like elves in some of the fantasy books Nanako read. He was currently sitting with his elbows resting on his desk, and his nose resting on his crossed hands. 

To his left sat a woman, perhaps in her twenties or thirties. She was not behind the desk, but instead off to the side; sitting on a chair similar to the one Nanako sat on. She wore a strange blue dress that wouldn't be out of place at a fancy fashion show, adorned with several gold circles over a pattern of diamonds. Her proportions were normal, especially compared to the man near her; she had long bleach-blond hair held out of her eyes by a blue hairband and pale white skin. Despite her somewhat ‘normal’ appearance, she still seemed a bit odd. Looking at her a moment longer, Nanako realized that it was her eyes; they were a bright yellow that would only be reasonable on a cat’s eye. The woman held a large and tattered book on her lap, with no words on the cover to suggest its contents. The two stared at Nanako as she looked about the room and at them. As her eyes settled, the man smiled an impossibly wide smile and spoke to her.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room,” he said, “I am Igor, and this is my assistant Margret.” 

The woman gave a small nod, “Hello.”

Nanako didn’t speak; While she remained calm, there were aspects of the situation that didn’t sit well in her mind. It had to be a dream, but it didn’t feel like one. And the way Igor smiled made her uneasy.

The well dressed man chuckled, “You need not be worried child. No harm will come to you here. You are a guest of the velvet room, and thus a guest of mine.”

Despite his odd appearance and demeanor, something about Igor seemed trustworthy. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she had always had good instincts when it came to judging character, even if she doubted them more often than she should. She decided at the very least that it wouldn’t do any harm to address the man.

“Where am I? What is this place?”

“The velvet room is the space that exists between dreams and reality,” he began, “it exists beyond time and space as you know it.”

“How did I get here?” she pressed

“Your mind was brought here so we may introduce ourselves. In reality, your body is safe in bed.” There was no hesitation in his response, as if he’d answered that exact question a thousand times.

Margret turned her head to face her and continued, “Guests of the velvet room are invited in anticipation of a convergence of fate.” Nanako raised an eyebrow; she was a smart child, but a child nonetheless; and all those big words in that order didn’t make much sense to her. Seeing her confusion, the woman reiterated, “That is to say they are invited when my master sees that an important event will take place in their lives. An event that will affect the fate not only of the guest, but of those around them.”

Igor spoke once more, “You may find in the coming days that that a contract will be presented to you. This will mark the beginning of your upcoming destiny, should you choose to accept it.”

Nanako remained puzzled, “But I’m too young to sign any contracts. I still need to get my permission slips signed by my dad.”

Igor chuckled once more, “I use the word contract loosely. In essence, all I mean is a promise. And more importantly, a promise you are willing to do anything in your power to keep.”

These words rung true in Nanako’s heart. She had much experience with promises, both those kept and those broken.

“How do you know all this?” She asked.

“It is my job as the caretaker of the velvet room,” Igor replied, “The room itself is tied to the hearts of its guests. I devine that a guest, or occasionally guests, will soon come through, and the room shifts to fit their needs. Though I must say, I believe you are the youngest guest I have had the pleasure of hosting.” Saying this, he bowed his head low placing an arm across his chest. “Speaking of which, would you please introduce yourself little one.”

She hesitated, again her dad’s words of ‘don’t trust anyone’ played through her head. This seemed different though, there was no way it was real. Her gut told her to speak, and she decided this time to follow it.

“I’m Nanako, Nanako Dojima.”

Margret, who had been sitting relaxed a moment before suddenly straightened her back, eyes widening. Igor however simply chuckled again, in the same exact manor as the previous times.

“It is a pleasure to have you as our guest Nanako. It seems the strands of destiny are even more intertwined than I initially thought.”

Nanako was about to ask what he meant, but he cut her off before she could voice the question.

“You will return here once you’ve made your contr- your promise. Until then, we will be waiting. Best of luck, young Nanako.” As he waved her off, her vision began to blur in patches before fading to black entirely.

* * *

Nanako awoke in her bed, sunlight shining in her eyes from her window. She turned her head to look at her alarm clock. 9:30am. It looked like she hadn’t slept in too late. The dream she had that night stayed fresh in her mind, more like a memory than a dream. She wondered what it meant, dreams were supposed to have meaning right? 

As the thought of the dream got pushed to the side reality seeped back in, still no new news about her dad. The pain was duller than it had been a week ago, she could now be thankful that he was at least alive. And though it was terrifying to not know what was going to happen next, now she knew in her heart as well as her mind that she wouldn’t have to face it alone. 

She laid in bed for another half an hour, basking in the sunlight, until the smell of cooking eggs made its way into her room. Her stomach growled, she’d been so upset recently that she only ate as a formality. She had barely felt hungry over the last week and now it seemed her stomach wasn’t going to have any more of that. She rolled out of bed, got dressed, combed her hair (it had been too long anyhow) and made her way to the kitchen.

Yu had woken up around 9am that morning. Despite the awful circumstances that brought him to the small town, he was honestly very happy to be back in his room in the Dojima household. It was the place he associated the word ‘home’ with. Ryotaro hadn’t changed it since he left, assuring Yu he always had a place to stay in Inaba. Everything from the model gundam on the shelves to the old box TV filled him with nostalgia. While his heart was full, his stomach was notably empty. So he had descended to the kitchen to make some breakfast for himself and Nanako. He was well aware Nanako could cook for herself (she’d been cooking for the family since she was six for crying out loud) but he was out there to take care of her. And like any good big bro, the extra bit of work for a second serving meant nothing at all.

There wasn’t too much food to work with, it seemed that groceries hadn’t been done in a while and Yuka and Nanako ate mostly takeout over the last week. That said there was still rice and eggs, which could provide a basic if bland start to the day. As he boiled the water for the rice he checked the top cupboards. Sure enough, the spices he had bought years ago were still there. He had bought them for Ryotaro when was determined to learn how to cook, though based on the quantities left in the jars they went mostly untouched. Regardless, a bit of oregano would give the eggs a nice herby flavour.

As the eggs began to sizzle Nanako came groggily out of her room. A wide smile crept onto Yu’s face, she already looked better than she did last night. Maybe it was just too early for her to be sad, but regardless he was happy to see her up and about. Especially after Yuka told him she’d spent most of the last few days in bed. She rubbed her eyes and went to stand beside him. “G’morning,” she said as wrapped her arms around him. 

“Morning sleepy,” he hugged her back with one arm while scrambling the eggs with the other, “did you sleep ok?”

“Mhm-” she nodded, “but I had this really weird dream.”

“Why don’t you tell me about it while we eat, the food’s almost ready.”

“Ok.” She got a pair of plates and mugs out as Yu finished the eggs and mixed them in with the rice. Yu, her and her dad all had their own mugs. The one Yu used belonged to her mom when she was still alive; her dad gifted it to him when he stayed for his second year of high school. It was his way of saying ‘you’re family.’

Yu was going to make a cup of coffee for himself, but he knew Nanako liked to have some sometimes so he ended up making a whole pot. He put a portion of the egg and rice on each plate and poured coffee into each mug. “Cream and sugar right Nanako?”

“No, I want mine black.”

Yu laughed a little too loudly at that, “No need to be tough, I like mine diluted too…” Yu immediately ate his words as he saw the twelve year old sipping the unaltered coffee from her mug, seemingly enjoying it. “Careful," he warned, "you don’t want to get too reliant on the stuff.”

She giggled, “I know. I don’t drink it often, but I really like the flavour as is. It was so funny when dad first saw me…” her voice trailed off as her smile faded softly. Her dad was shocked when he first saw her drink it straight from the pot. His expression was priceless. She wondered if she’d ever get the chance to make more memories like that with him again.

Yu, seeing where her mind was going quickly changed the subject. “So, what was that weird dream you had about.” 

She shook her head, bringing herself back into the moment, “Oh yeah. It was really strange; I knew it was a dream since things didn’t really make sense, but it felt kinda like I was awake at the same time.”

“Is that so?” Yu took a sip of his coffee, which had a generous amount of cream and sugar, “I think I heard something about that kind of dream in class, where you know its a dream and you can change it. I think it's called a lucid dream.”

She tilted her head slightly, “No it wasn’t quite like that. I couldn’t really change anything. It felt like I was awake in the dream, like I could feel the room around me.”

Yu nodded, listening intently. He seemed to remember feeling the same way at some point, though exactly when and why escaped him at the moment.

Nanako continued, “I was in this big library, or at least I think it was big. I was in a smaller room full of bookshelves and work tables. Now that I think of it, I didn’t see any exits. Maybe it wasn’t so big.” She shook her head. “It’s not important. Anyway I was in this really soft blue chair and there was an old man and a woman sitting across from me. And the man looked super strange.”

Before she could elaborate, Yu’s phone started ringing in his pocket.

"One second Nanako," he pulled his phone out and checked the number, Inaba P.D., “I have to take this, be right back.” He held the phone to his ear as he walked to the living room for better signal, "Hello?"

"Hello, this is officer Yuka Mifune. Have I reached Yu Narukami?"

He smirked, officer Yuka didn't seem nearly this formal when he met her last night. "Yes this is Yu. Called to give an update I presume?"

"Yes, and it's a bit of good news. Mr. Dojima's condition has remained stable for long enough that he has been moved from intensive care. He is still comatose, but the hospital would allow you to visit if you'd like."

Yu's smirk turned into a soft smile. It was a relief that Dojima was doing slightly better, and it would be good to be able to see him. He was saddened, though, that he remained in an incapacitated state. 

"Thank you Yuka. We might even go see him today."

"Of course. I'll continue to update you as there is more information, sorry the news couldn't be better," she paused a moment, "Before you go, please be aware that the perimeter around your residence has been all but removed. Only a couple of patrols are stationed in the area, so be cautious."

"Will do. Is there anything else."

"No, that's all for the moment. I have to return to my other duties anyhow. Have yourself a good day, and say hello to Nanako for me."

"Of course, you too. And thanks again."

He ended the call and returned to the kitchen. His food was beginning to get cold, but Nanako had already finished her breakfast. He sat down to face her once more. "You must've been hungry."

"Uh-huh," she said, patting her belly, "thanks for cooking."

“My pleasure,” he took another bite of his breakfast, “that was Yuka on the phone by the way.”

"Oh? What did she have to say?" She asked before taking another big sip of coffee. 

"She said that there'll be less police around the house, so make sure to be careful." Yu started with this information while trying to figure out how to best phrase the new information about his uncle. "She also told me that your dad's still asleep, but the doctors say he's well enough to visit."

Her eyes widened, "Wait, really? We can go see him?"

"If you want to, absolutely."

She looked insulted, of course she wanted to go visit her dad! Why would he even suggest she wouldn't?

He spoke again, "I know from experience it can be hard to see someone you love when they're hurt. So I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to see him just yet."

This made her hesitate. She had been avoiding her more upsetting feelings as much as she could. And while she did open up to her big bro, there were definitely still some things she wasn't addressing.

She shook her head, "Dad would come see me almost every day when we were in the hospital. And you and your friends came to visit often too, even if it made you sad to see me sick. I know it might be upsetting, but I want to see him." There was resolve in her voice as she spoke. "Can we go now?"

He nodded, "Just let me finish my breakfast."

* * *

The bus ride to the hospital was made in relative silence. It was the middle of the day so there weren't very many commuters. The two cousins sat side by side in front facing seats, Nanko nearest the window. The trip would take about 40 minutes; it would have been faster to drive as the bus route took a winding path, but Yu wasn’t comfortable taking the Dojima family car. Nanako spent the first half of the trip looking out at the scenery while Yu answered some school emails on his phone. After some time, she turned to him, a question forming in her expression.

"Hey big bro, how are you feeling?"

He put his phone away and turned his head to face her, "I'm doing ok," he said with a smile, "why do you ask?"

"It's just that…" she paused, planning out the sentence in her head, "I know you and dad are really close too. But since I told you what happened you haven't really looked concerned or upset or anything. Why is that?"

He took a deep breath and put an arm around her shoulder, "To be honest, I am concerned, and I’m upset and I'm scared. I'm not sure what's going to happen just as much as you're not. The reason I don't show it is because I've spent a lot of years learning to compartmentalize. Do you know what that means?"

"You learned how to organize your thoughts?"

"Basically." Yu thought back to his days inside the TV; how much he wanted to spend every waking hour finding and freeing his friends, and how he learned it wouldn’t do anyone any good pushing himself past his limit. "It's easy for feelings to overwhelm you. If they do, sometimes you won't make the best decisions. At the same time you can't ignore them, cause then you'll close yourself off and won't really be yourself. So I learned to isolate them, and then put them in order with my priorities."

She nodded along; she'd done some of what he was explaining, though she didn't know there was a name for it. 

He continued, "Right now I know your dad's ok. So until that changes what’s most important is to make sure you're doing ok," He poked her nose as he said so, “that’s the priority.”

She smiled, blushing slightly. As much as she enjoyed seeming grown up in front of others, she still liked being treated like a kid sometimes. 

As the bus arrived at their stop the two shuffled off and started walking the short path to the hospital. Yu had done so countless times both during his visits and while he worked part time as a cleaner. As they approached the front doors Nanako grabbed his arm to get his attention, 

"Thanks for coming out here to help take care of things, but make sure you take care of yourself too ok?"

He nodded, "Don't worry, I will."

* * *

A resident doctor led the two to the room where Ryotaro was set up in the coma ward. There was an officer sitting outside the door, presumably to make sure the shooter didn't try to finish the job. Seeing Nanako, and getting a thumbs up from the doctor, he let the group past. 

The hospital room was dark; they kept the lights off when no one but the patient was inside. The familiar sounds of heart, blood pressure, and other various monitors beeped and buzzed in the background. As the doctor hit the light switch Mr. Dojima's body was made visible. He was lying down peacefully, unmoving but breathing steadily. He had an I.V. of salene in one arm, a nutrient tube down one nostril, and an oxygen mask over his face.

As Nanako slowly approached her dad, the doctor pulled Yu off to the side. "You're his nephew?" She asked in a hushed tone, trying to keep the conversation from reaching the little girl in the room.

He nodded, "How is he, how does the prognosis look?"

"Unfortunately it's hard to say," she took her clipboard from under her arm and checked her notes, "he's recovering well from the surgery, no signs of internal hemorrhaging, blood-oxygen levels are stable, and all the cell counts are well within their margins." She flipped her notepad, "There were no signs of stroke, or heart or lung failure during or after the procedure. His body appears to be in reasonable health considering his age and lifestyle. Though should he regain consciousness he will likely have to quit smoking." She put her clipboard back under her arm. "To be honest, we're not yet sure exactly why he hasn't woken up. We have a few theories but nothing we can confirm just yet. He's scheduled for an FMRI as soon as possible, and we've sent some blood and tissue samples to Tokyo for further analysis. Until then we don't have enough information to make an accurate prognosis."

Yu exhaled, not realizing he was holding in a breath. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but it was good to have  _ some _ good news peppered among the uncertainty. He looked over at Ryotaro, Nanako standing by his side; at the very least, there was hope. Despite the good, Yu couldn't keep the sinking feeling sneaking up on him. Being here made it real; and despite his best efforts to stay strong for Nanako, he felt a deep sadness start to take hold of his heart. 

Trying to distract himself, he took a deep breath and addressed the doctor once more, "So why all the tests? I wouldn't think it would be standard procedure to order that much for a bullet wound."

She opened her mouth to answer, then closed it again; seemingly unsure herself. She took another look at her clipboard before quietly exclaiming, "Oh right! The anomaly."

"An anomaly?"

She re-read her notes, "I’m not the permanent doctor here, so I don’t have all the information; but the surgeons found something anomalous about the tissue around the bullet wound. According to their notes no one in the hospital could identify it, so it was sent off for further analysis."

He looked back at the Dojimas, “Hopefully it’s nothing detrimental…”

* * *

As the adults talked about the situation, Nanako spoke to her dad. She seemed to remember hearing that sometimes people in comas could still hear things coming from the real world. Regardless, she needed to say something; she couldn't stand the quiet.

"Hi dad. It's good to see you." 

She spoke slowly, trying to be careful of what she said. The last thing she wanted was to upset her dad when he couldn’t do anything. Though this would prove harder than anticipated; already her voice was starting to shake, 

“The doctors said you were doing good enough to see, so me and Yu came to visit. He’s just talking to the doctor right now, but he’ll say hello in a minute.”

She put her hands around one of his, “Yu said he’d take care of me while you’re getting better, so you don’t have to worry about that at least.”

Her breathing grew shakier. She paused, swallowing back a sob, “It's not the same without you around," She sniffled shakily between some of the words, "I already miss the messages you leave when your at work late so I can hear when I wake up. I miss sharing coffee on mornings you don’t have to be at the office. I miss eating dinner and watching TV with you. I miss walking by the river bed on Sunday afternoons.” 

Tears started to roll down her cheeks, “I don’t want to lose that. There’s still so much more I want to do with you, so much more I want you to see. I want you to have enough stories to keep mom busy until it’s my time to join you too.” 

She wiped her eyes and nose with her sleeve, “Remember what you told me, back when we left the hospital years ago? You told me you’d keep me safe, that as long as you’re around you’ll do everything you can to make sure nothing bad happens to me. I still need you dad,” she put his hand on her heart, clutching it tightly, "please don’t go.”

Yu joined her at his side, putting one arm around her shoulder and the other on her dad's arm. They stood in near silence for a moment, only the various machines Ryotaro was hooked up to and Nanako’s quiet breaking it. 

Once she cried herself out, she took a deep breath and addressed Yu, “do you want to talk to him?”

“Yes,” he said, “yes I would.”

“Do you want a bit of space?”

“Would that be ok?” He asked, seeing she was still clutching her dad’s hand.

“Yeah, just as long as I get to say goodbye before we go.”

He nodded, “Of course.”

She slowly let go of her dad’s hand, placing it gently back on the bed before going and standing my the doctor. As the two stuck up small talk, Yu kneeled down to be close to Ryotaro.

“Hey uncle,” he said, looking at the wall of the room instead of at the figure in the bed, “it’s been a while since I’ve seen you. Though I didn’t expect the terms of my visit to be so dark, ha…”

He took another deep breath, “To be honest I didn’t think I’d see you here after what happened with Nanako. Though I suppose that was my fault though, I forget how belligerent you were as a patient. You’ve never been one to back down with something important on the line; I just hoped it wouldn’t get you here.” 

He cleared his throat, trying and failing to stabilize his voice as it choked up, “I’m going to take good care of Nanako while your away, but you have to know I could never replace you. She idolizes you, sees all the good you’ve ever done, the best you ever were. You’ve really become a great dad since I met you, not only to her but to me.”

His breath quivered, tears starting to drip from his eyes, “My parents are always moving around, their lives can get so busy that it can be hard to find time for family. Though I suppose you know something about that.” A bit a laughter broke through the tears, “I guess what I’m trying to say is that,” he blinked away his tears, “I’ve never felt more at home than here, with you and Nanako. I love you, and you guys are who I think of when I think of family. I need you to know that. Any scuffs we’ve had are in the past, I don’t hold any of it against you. Hell I’d think I was trying to pull some BS too if I were you.”

He laughed again, only this time it turned into sobs. He laid his head down on his uncle’s bed and wept for nearly a minute; allowing himself to feel all that he was suppressing. He had to let it out, that way he could be stronger for Nanako after.

He took a few deep breaths before speaking again, “It’s not your time yet uncle. There’s still so much here for you. Nanako’s still so young, I want you to see her grow up. I want you to get the chance to get old and retire, to see your grandkids. We want you to come back to us; so if you can hear me please,” he took another breath, trying to stay calm enough to keep talking, “please fight. Just like Nanako did for us years ago. Stay with us…”

“Please…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More setup, but what's a good story without arguably too much setup


	5. A promise made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako meets with the fox at the Tatsuhime shrine, and takes her first step into a greater fate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a shorter chapter, but the start of the real deal story stuff.

The trip back from the hospital was a somber one, Yu and Nanako both emotionally drained from the visit. It had been cathartic in a way, being able to see Ryotaro and talk to him; but it came with an air of dread. For all they knew, that could have been their last chance to see him alive. Neither wanted to think about his mortality, but their minds kept coming to the subject like moths to a flame. 

About halfway to their stop Yu’s phone buzzed, a text from Yosuke. He unlocked his phone to check it.

_ “Hey man, free 2nite? Mind if I come say hi?” _

Yu smiled, a little company is exactly what he needed right now. That said, he wasn’t the only one with a say in the matter. He turned to Nanako, who was staring at clouds out the window.

“Hey, do you want tonight to be just us, or would you like Yosuke and maybe Teddie to join?” he asked, showing her the text message.

She sighed as her shoulders dropped, “They can come if they want.”

Yu had more than enough Understanding to notice she was putting others before herself again. Hell, one of the reasons he went into psychology was because he could read people so well. “Don’t worry about them; right now I’m asking what you want.”

She pursed her lips and fiddled with her hands for a moment before answering, “Can it just be us tonight?” she asked shyly.

He smiled “Of course, not a worry.” He quickly typed out a response. 

_ “Tonight’s no good. Maybe later in the week.” _

Nanako was looking at her feet, “Tell him I’m sorry.”

He shook his head, “There’s nothing to be sorry for. Yosuke isn’t exactly the easiest person to be vulnerable around. Heck, the one time he tried to be vulnerable around me he told me to punch him in the face.”

She blinked, doing a double take, “He did what?!?”

The rest of the ride home had a much lighter tone, as Yu told Nanako some of the stories from high school that she had yet to hear. He always tried to keep things age appropriate around her, so as she grew she would get more stories. At this point she was old enough for most of them, but he still held onto most of the trip to the big city high school. Not even Ryotaro knew what happened at the club on that trip, though looking back it was rather tame in comparison to some things he’d done since.

A the bus arrived in Inaba’s shopping district the two disembarked. Yu took Nanako’s hand and took a step in the direction of home, but stopped when he noticed she didn’t move with him. She was still looking at the shopping district. “Something you want to do before we go back?” he asked.

“A couple things actually,” she answered, “if that’s ok.”

He smiled, “Absolutely, what were you thinking?”

“Well,” she pointed towards the tofu shop, “I was thinking maybe we could get some food for tonight, and also maybe get some groceries for this week.”

“That sounds like a great idea. I was thinking of getting groceries, but I forgot since this morning.”

The two started by stopping by the tofu shop, Rise’s grandmother recognising Yu as he walked in. “Oh hello there Yu,” she said grinning ear to ear, “it’s been too long.” 

“That it has, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” he gave a polite bow, “Nanako and I were looking to get some dinner. Any suggestions?”

“Let me double check what’s in stock.”

* * *

  
  


After a couple hours of shopping, the two had enough groceries to last the week, as well as some delicious looking tofu meals for that night. They had had lunch at Junes before they did their groceries, but that was some time ago at this point. Already they were starting to get hungry again. As they were walking back through the shopping district on the way home, Nanako stopped in front of the Tatsuhime shrine.

“Hey big bro?” she started, “can I do one more thing before we go back home?”

“You want to visit the shrine?” he asked in return.

She nodded, “If that’s ok.”

“Of course it's ok, do you want me to join you?”

She swayed back and forth a moment, already knowing her answer but deciding if she wanted to be honest, “Can I go alone?”

Yu smiled, “Go ahead, I’ll be right here if you need me. Don’t hesitate to yell if something happens.”

“Thanks big bro.” She put down the groceries she was carrying, gave him a hug, and made her way up the steps. 

The shrine was empty, aside from a few birds and rodents hiding among the surrounding foliage. Nanako didn’t frequent the shrine, but she did visit rarely to decompress or pay her respects. It had been refurbished slightly in the last couple of years, apparently people had started donating more as thanks for the shrine fulfilling their wishes. Nanako went to the section of the shrine where the emas were kept. The board where they were posted wasn’t very full; there had been a burning somewhat recently, and it wasn’t yet the time of year for children to be praying for gifts or students to be praying to pass exams. She took a moment to look at some of the requests on the board, 

_ “Please let me get this promotion.”  _

_ “I want the girl I like to like me back.”  _

_ “I want to be more open with people.”  _

The troubles seemed almost trivial to Nanako, she was envious for a moment that this was all people were worried about. She shook her head, dismissing the thought; it was a  _ good  _ thing not many people were going through what she was.

She grabbed a blank ema and a charcoal pen which was kept with it. After taking a moment to think about how exactly she wanted to word her sentence she wrote,

_ “I want my dad to wake up.” _

*Yip*

She jumped, letting out a shriek. Turning around to see the source of the noise that startled her she saw a fox; she was so lost in thought that she didn’t see it approach. Foxes are usually wild animals, but this one didn’t seem to be; its fur was very well kept, It wore a lightly tattered bib that was red with white hearts. It had a couple of old scars on it, which gave it a bit of a rugged look, but it sat calmly looking at her. There was a certain intelligence to its eyes, it seemed to be waiting for something.

“Uh, hello,” Nanako started, “sorry, you scared me a bit.”

The fox looked her up and down, but otherwise didn’t move.

Still looking at the fox, she slowly made her way to a blank spot on the request board and placed her ema. As she stepped back, the fox ran up beside her and jumped at the ema, pulling the request off the board.

“Wha- hey, what was that for?” She was a little angry, but mostly just confused. 

Just then, the sound of feet on stone came from the steps came from the entrance to the shrine. Both her and the fox turned their heads to see Yu sprinting up the steps, still carrying all the groceries. 

“Are you *huff* ok?” he panted, “I heard you yell...” he placed the bags down and put his hands on his knees, unable to finish his sentence. It had been far too long since he properly exercised.

The fox howled gently before jogging its way over to him, Nanako following instinctually. “Watch out big bro!” she yelled.

Yu looked up in concern, but relaxed once more as he saw the ‘threat.’ The fox ran a small circle around him before sitting at his feet, ema in its mouth.

As Yu patted its head affectionately Nanako stopped running, walking the rest of the way to her cousin. “What’s going on? Who is this fox?”

Yu, having mostly caught his breath, kneeled down both to be at eye level with her and to more easily pet the fox. “Well you see, this gal helps take care of the shrine,” he moved his hand from the top of its head to under its chin, “back when I lived here she’d bring me emas to help her fulfill.”

Nanako was very confused, but at least the fox didn’t seem to be any sort of danger. “So… the fox grants requests?”

“Not quite; she’s not a kami who can grant wishes or anything. But she is very sympathetic, and tries to help out where she can. Speaking of ...”

He grabbed the ema from the fox’s mouth. Nanako reached for it; but Yu had already read it by the time her hand got there. He sighed, smiling sadly, before giving the ema back to the still reaching Nanako.

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

“No, I’m sorry. That was personal, I wasn’t supposed to see it.”

The fox looked at Yu confused, but continued to sit in front of the two.

“Well,” Yu said, after a moment of silence, “this could be good news.”

Nanako adopted the fox’s expression, “What do you mean?”

“Well, like I said, back when I was living here I’d visit the shrine pretty often. When I did this fox would sometimes be here with an ema in its mouth; she’d ask me to help grant the request so that the shrine could get more money. That’s what I figured anyway, she’s good company but she doesn’t talk.”

She only became more confused; while Yu was always good with animals and seemed to enjoy being around them, she didn’t think him the type to assume a whole narrative based on the actions of a stray fox.

He looked back to the fox, scratching behind its ears, “She picked the emas out herself; and while there were some real difficult issues to solve among them, there wasn’t a single one that proved impossible.” Still petting the very content fox, he looked back at Nanako, “So if she grabbed yours, that means she thinks I can solve it.”

She frowned, trying to process this new information. She was skeptical, to say the least; this was after all a possibly made up narrative between Yu and a wild animal. Maybe Yu was grasping at straws trying to find some semblance of hope for Ryotaro, something to help him stay strong. On the other hand, she knew he wouldn’t say something like that lightly; he was never one to get her hopes up unless he was positive he could follow through (a trait he thankfully ended up teaching her dad.) 

Seeing her face journey, he couldn’t help but chuckle, “I know it all seems ridiculous, I probably wouldn’t believe me in your place either.”

“It's… not that,” she paused, “Do you promise you’re telling the truth?”

He stopped petting the fox and placed a hand on her shoulder, “I promise.”

“So then, do you think we can really help dad somehow?”

He sighed, “I can’t be sure, but the fox hasn’t steered me wrong yet.” He stood up, “If we’re going to go through with this though, we’re going to have to do it together. So I’ll leave it up to you.” After he spoke, the fox looked up at him for a moment before quickly moving to sit in from of Nanako. It looked her in the eye, expectantly. “I always the option to say no to a request, so you’ll have the same option. I know how hard it can be to have a hope that might not work out, so I’ll follow you on this one. Whatever you choose, I'll be right there by your side.”

She stood silent for a minute; something about this seemed important. If she rejected the request, then she wouldn’t let herself think that her actions would change the situation. Logically they couldn’t affect it directly, and she knew this. If she accepted, she could be setting herself up for more heartbreak in the end, more suffering in the meantime. She looked back at the ema in her hands that she had just written moments ago. She wanted nothing more in the world than to get her dad back; and whether she accepted the fox’s request to help or not, deep down she knew she’d try anything she thought would help her dad. 

“Do you promise you’ll help me?” She asked nervously.

He smiled softly, “Of course I do; I’m here so we can get through this together, no matter what ‘this’ ends up being. I want him back too you know.”

The fox still looked at her, a quiet excitement growing in its eyes.

She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath,

“I accept.”


	6. Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako returns to the Velvet room, and gains some insight on what's next.

The evening passed by quickly; after spending a bit more time at the shrine (just enough for Yu to write an ema of his own to hold onto and for Nanako to become acquainted with the fox) the two went straight home. Their tofu dinners were delicious, if a little bit spicier than Nanako expected, and Nanako really appreciated being able to spend a little more quality with her big bro. They were both still exhausted from the day, which had seemed to go on forever between the visit and the shopping and the shrine. They decided to call it an early night after supper, Nanako having just enough energy to shower and brush her teeth before collapsing onto her bed and falling asleep.

* * *

  
  
  


Her eyes fluttered open, once again she was sitting upright. She blinked, trying to adjust to the lighting of the room; it was the same place as the dream she had the previous night. It had the same silver floor, the same velvet chair, and the same strange people. This was the first time she’d ever had a recurring dream, never mind having one the night after the first. Once again a calming song filled the air, and the feeling of not quite dreaming took hold of her once more.

“Welcome back, young Nanako,” Igor spoke, smiling his uncomfortably wide smile, “I am glad to see you have decided to join us once more.”

She tilted her head sideways, “I don’t remember thinking I wanted to come back here,” her eyes widened, “n-no offence.” she stuttered, “It is lovely here.”

He chuckled his usual chuckle and simply waved a hand at her, “I take no offence; for it was not the choice to return that brought you here. You have made your contract, and we have summoned your mind once more to tell you how we can be of assistance.”

She thought back, clearing the fog from her mind, “You mean when I accepted my ema from the fox?”

He nodded, “Precisely!”

She furrowed her brow, “Wait… does that mean I can actually help my dad wake up?”

“Should you be successful in your task, I am certain you will achieve your goal," he stated, "that said, there will be many trials that await you along your way. Your journey will be one of rediscovery,” he gestured about the room, still looking at her, “the information you seek exists; you must sift through it to find the answers you require.”

She frowned slightly; Igor was speaking very cryptically, but the idea he was suggesting made some kind of sense. She’d have to find pieces of information that's already out there, and put them together somehow. It all seemed quite daunting if she was being honest with herself, but she made a commitment and wasn’t going to turn back now.

"So, how will you help?" she asked.

"For the moment, our aid is limited. You may ask us questions, which we will answer to the best of our abilities. Though there is much knowledge between Margaret and myself, we are not all knowing," he said, gesturing to his assistant, "but our knowledge and skill will become more useful as your quest continues." He leaned forward in his seat, "Now, do you have anything to ask of us?"

She thought for a moment, starting with a simple question would probably be best, “Where do I start?”

“Begin with the bonds you have forged, those which could never be broken. They will lend you strength, and aid in guiding your path forward.” He tilted his head slightly, “I see a great power within you, ready to be awakened. Trust your intuition, and do not accept any lies.”

She nodded with resolve, every moment this felt less like a dream; she believed more and more that she could actually help her dad somehow. It didn't make any sense in her head, but she felt it true in her heart; Chie's motto of 'don't think, feel' played in her head. 

"Do you wish to ask anything else before you return to reality?" He posited.

She pondered; there was no way to guess how much information these two had, but they seemed to know a bit about her and her friends. Maybe they could confirm a suspicion of her's.

"You said to start with people I have bonds with. Will I find something out if I talk to Teddie?"

He chucked his same slow chuckle, like an old train starting to build up steam. "Your mind is keen, it will take you far. That being may very well give you a heading. Now," he turned his head to his assistant, "Margret, if you would." 

She stood from her seat, placing her massive tome onto it and walking to Nanako. She held out what appeared to be a key; it was ultramarine in colour, semi translucent, and was shaped at one end like a pair of butterfly wings. 

"Please take this." She sounded like a businesswoman; not monotone, but without emotion behind her voice. 

Nanako took the key and examined it closer, not discovering any additional details, "What's it for?"

"This will allow you to visit the velvet room on your own." She explained before returning to her seat. 

Igor spoke once more, "The next time we meet, it will be by your choice to come see us. We are here to guide you to the best of our abilities, so please do not hesitate to voice any questions you may have." He straightened his posture, "Now, return to your world. And remember, it is the bonds you forge that give you strength, and will continue to do so. Until you call on us next." Saying this, he waved his hand; Nanako's vision once again shimmered before fading into the blackness of sleep.

* * *

_ A gunshot rings in the distance, stray dogs barking at the sudden noise breaking the chill of the night. A woman sits, clutching her side as she falls into shock. A figure stands above her, face hidden by a scarf and a pair of welding goggles. It holsters a pistol before slowly walking away; leaving the woman to the night as she falls unconscious. _

* * *

Nanako woke up to the sound of her alarm clock ringing, the classic hammer and bell design hard to ignore. She hadn't remembered setting it the previous night, and she had left the alarm function off since the night of the phone call. She turned it off; there was enough sun shining into her room that she didn't need to turn on a lamp to see the clock. It read 7:40, slightly later than when she usually set it for school. The thought came to her, it  _ had  _ been a full week since she'd attended classes; and while she could do assignments at home, she was starting to miss her friends and the environment. She decided her alarm being set was a sign she should at least try to go today. 

As she stretched and got out of bed she heard something hard drop onto her floor. Curious, she turned her light on and checked the edge of her bed; only to find an ultramarine key with one end shaped like a butterfly. Her eyes went wide as she grabbed it, nearly dropping it again in the process. She felt its every edge, looked at it at every angle. 

It was real. 

She pinched herself, and the pain she felt in her arm made her sure; those weren't dreams, they were real. And that meant that maybe, just maybe, she really could save her dad. She'd have to talk to Teddie as soon as possible. In the meantime, she got herself ready for school with renewed vigour, placing the key on the ring with her house key. 

She entered the livingroom at about 8 o'clock; Yu was nowhere to be seen, probably still sleeping off the previous day. Her stomach growled, she thought to herself she'd have time for a simple cereal breakfast, but probably not eggs or anything else cooked. She'd have to be out of the house by 8:15 at the latest if she didn't want to be late, and even then she'd have to walk quite fast. She quickly packed up her work and poured herself a bowl of cereal. While checking the fridge for milk, she saw among the various groceries, there was a small box labeled "Nanko" with a heart on it. Checking inside, there was a pudding cup, a juice box, a granola bar and a note,  _ "Stay strong, and good luck!" _ Her mood went from good to great; she put the snack in her backpack, finished her cereal, and skipped off to school. She didn't know what was to come next, but at the moment she was determined to have a good first day back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another shorter chapter. Maybe could have fused it with the previous one but I felt it was a distinct enough scene that it earned its own spot. Went on a bit of a spree so expect another chapter as soon at today? 
> 
> Also, thanks to everyone who's read this far.


	7. New Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako has her first day back at school after being gone for a week, and learns what happened to her dad might not have been an isolated incident.

It was the morning of the 20th of October, 2016. The sky was partially cloudy with the sun staying unobstructed for minutes at a time, still warm even in the cool brought on by autumn. There was no green left on the trees that dotted the Samegawa floodplain; the brown, orange, and red leaves making the familiar sight a little more scenic. A slight breeze brought a chill to the underdressed, taking some leaves from the trees and adding them to the thin sheet that covered the ground. 

Nanako half skipped half jogged to school, the sound of crunching leaves accompanying her every step. She checked her watch, 8:23, if she kept up her pace she’d be just in time for her first class of the day. She liked being early to class when she could, but it couldn't really be helped today. It was Thursday, so it wouldn't be an especially long week; perfect for getting back into the swing of things after being gone a while. 

She paused a moment at the road that would lead her to Inaba elementary, looking back at the riverbed. Had she been willing to leave the house last week, she probably would have ended up there. It was the place she went when she needed to get some space, and when she was upset. Sometimes she'd just sit by the river and talk to her mom, hoping she could hear her from beyond. 

She checked her watch again, 8:28. She stood reminiscing longer than she thought! She turned and ran towards her school, hoping she wouldn't be called on for being late.

  
  


* * *

She entered the front doors just as the first bell rang; quickly changing her shoes before sprinting up the stairs to her classroom on the third floor. Inaba elementary was built with the idea of a small footprint; as such there were several stories with few classrooms on them as supposed to only one or two large floors. As you progressed in the grades, you literally moved up in the school; the first and second grades were on the first floor along with the gymnasium and art room, third and fourth grades were on the second floor along with the music room and computer lab, and fifth and sixth grades were on the third floor with the office and home-ec rooms. 

She stopped just outside Ms. Wakamatsu’s 6th grade classroom, catching her breath for a few seconds before quietly stepping inside. The class was rather small compared one you’d see in the city, with only 26 students, including herself. Everyone was sitting quietly at their desks as Ms. Wakamatsu took roll for the morning. Wakamatsu was a woman in her early 40s, with brown hair that naturally curled and brown eyes. She wore large round glasses with a wire frame and a cardigan over a simple yet professional fall dress. She was a good teacher, she had trained to be a librarian and had a thirst for knowledge that was contagious. And while she could be a bit stricter than necessary at times, most students still liked and respected her. 

As Nanako stepped in the room a few students noticed her entrance; even more as she made her way to her desk beside Sui near the front of the class. A wave of whispers made its way through the room as she sat down, they were quickly cut off however by Wakamatsu loudly clearing her throat. She looked at Nanako, waiting till the student placed her notebook on the table before addressing her, “Pleasure to have you back Nanako,” her voice was deeper than the average woman, and her enunciation was always immaculate, “I’ve been notified of your situation, feel free to speak with me outside of class if you feel the need.” 

She nodded, “Thank you ma’am.”

Wakamatsu nodded back; as she was about to continue taking attendance the schools public address came on, “Attention all teachers,” the voice belonged to the principal Mr. Yamada, “once you have taken attendance, please escort your classes to the gymnasium for an impromptu assembly.” The P.A. then fell silent once more. The whispers started up again; but this time it was halted by shushing from the surrounding students who didn’t want to sour Ms. Wakamatsu’s mood. 

“Thank you,” she said, “if I’ve already called your name you may line up at the door. That way we can leave as soon as everyone is accounted for.”

One by one the sixth graders all lined up; it was very unusual to have an unplanned assembly. Generally everyone knew in advance, and if not at the very least the teacher knew. Students were already speculating what it could be about, 

_ “Is a bus route out of service?”  _

_ “Naw, they would’ve just announced that over the P.A.” _

_ “Maybe someone got caught with lice!” _

_ “EW, I hope not. My hair is too pretty to get rid of.” _

As the students made their way into the gymnasium and sat down they separated off into their groups of friends. Nanako and Sui sat together without thinking, Sui giving her a big hug out of nowhere.

“It’s good to see you!” Sui said, squeezing her tightly, “How are you doing, are you feeling better at all?”

Nanako smiled and hugged her back, “It’s good to see you too, and yeah I’m feeling a lot better. My big bro is here from Tokyo to keep me company, and I got to visit my dad in the hospital.”

The girls let go of eachother, opting to lean against one-another instead. “Well that’s great to hear,” Sui’s voice was saturated with relief, “how is your dad doing by the way.”

Nanako sighed, “He’s alive, but still in a coma. The doctors aren’t sure how likely he is to wake up, but they say he has a chance at least.”

“Oh…” the relief was replaced by an awkwardness, “I’m sorry.”

Nanako just smiled, “It’s ok, I’ve got a good feeling he’ll pull through.”

Just then, principal Yamada stepped before the student body, microphone in hand. He was a bit of a larger gentleman, in his late fifties with greying brown hair and an equally greying bushy moustache that was very well kept. He wore a mid-light brown suit and a bright green tie over a white undershirt. He began the assembly in the same way he always did, “Good morning teachers and students!” He announced with an over exaggerated excitement.

“Good morning!” the student body replied in near unison, the call and response was a good way to make sure the principal had the attention on him. 

As the room went silent, he spoke into the microphone again, “This will be a relatively short assembly, and I apologize in advance for cutting into class time. That said, there has been a safety concern raised recently that you must be made aware about. Officer Mifune will explain the details.” 

Nanako’s ears perked up at the name; she was at the back of the gym, but even at that distance she recognised Yuka as she stepped from a side wall to the front of the crowd, taking the mic from the principal.

“Thank you principal Yamada,” she gave a polite head bow before facing the student body, “as said, I am officer Mifune of Inaba P.D. I will cut any further pleasantries and proceed straight to the reason I am here for. Over the last two weeks, there have been two reported cases of firearms being used on the streets of Inaba.” 

The crowd erupted into a fit of whispers, which were quickly shushed down to a reasonable level by the surrounding teachers. Yuka continued, “Your parents will receive a newsletter in the mail with more details. In the meantime, I am going to instruct you on what you can do to stay safe.” 

She lifted her index finger, “Firstly, on your commute or errands stay in populated areas; especially at night. By staying with others and in well lit, public places, you are in a much safer position. Both reports of gunshots were in secluded areas where no one was around to see the event take place, and few could hear it from a distance.” 

She raised her middle finger with her index, “Secondly, if need to go to a less populated area, don’t go alone. There’s strength in numbers, and the larger your group the safer you are. An attacker doesn’t want people to get away to report them, so they won’t target groups that could scatter. Also, it's important you stay with your group; standard rules of not following strangers still apply.” 

She put down her hand, “Finally, if you find yourself in the sights of a gun, do not run in a straight line. Run in zig-zags, that will make it hard to aim at you, and find the nearest corner you can go around.” Again the students began whispering among themselves, and again they were quieted down; though it took nearly twice as long as last time.

“Now, it is unlikely that any of you will be in any danger, but we of Inaba P.D. have to exercise the utmost caution. Please don’t hesitate to call the non emergency number if you hear or see anything suspicious. And if you do find yourself in danger, be loud, get attention, and call emergency services as soon as possible.” Finishing speaking, she handed the microphone back to the principal.

“Thank you officer Mifune, now,” he cleared his throat, “do be careful when going home at the end of the day. We are in the process of notifying your parents to pick you up if able. If your parent cannot be reached, we will notify you at lunch and arrange a carpool. That is all.”   
  


The sixth grade class made its way back into their homeroom, talking among themselves the entire way. Some students voiced concerns about the supposed gunner loose in Inaba. Others voiced excitement that something interesting was finally happening in the small town. Nanako however stayed silent, contemplating the possible ramifications of a second shooting. She'd have to watch the news that night, maybe there'd be more details there. 

The morning classes went by otherwise uneventful, the four periods being slightly condensed to account for the assembly. Nanako hasn't quite finished her assignments for that week, so she worked on them in between classed. During the latter half of lunch, as the students cleaned up the classroom Ms. Wakamatsu asked her to speak with her in the hall.

Wakamatsu leaned forward slightly to be closer to Nanako's level, "I honestly didn't expect to see you back so soon," she smiled, but her concern was clear, "how are you?"

"I'm doing ok," she looked her teacher in the eyes as she spoke, "my dad's still in the hospital, but his condition is stable. All we can really do now is wait."

Wakamatsu furrowed her brow, "Sorry, who else is 'we'?"

"My bi- my cousin," she corrected herself, feeling it was easier than explaining why she called him big bro, "he's in from out of town to help take care of things until my dad gets better. We're all really close, so he's waiting too."

Wakamatsu smiled, "I see, I'm glad to hear you have family with you; I can't imagine how hard it must be. I just wanted to check in on you, and to let you know if you feel you need extensions or accommodations to come to me and ask. You're a good student, and I want to see you succeed."

Nanako smiled and nodded, "Thank you ma'am, I'll keep that in mind."

  
  


* * *

The day went on as normal, with math and english classes as the 5th and 6th periods respectively. English was taught in part by an American named Joseph. He was a man thirty four year old man (he used his age as an example for the class) who was thickset, though not overweight. His pale blue eyes were always covered with thin rectangular glasses. He was bald, but his face was covered in full, well kept, facial hair. He was incredibly pale, even for a caucasian, and he always wore a pair of blue jeans and a collared button up. English was only taught once a week; Joseph was the only english assistant assigned to the school, so he would cycle through the grades teaching one each day. He was a very energetic individual, and his style of speech as well as insistent use of visual aids allowed him to keep the attention of students at any age. He spoke almost no japanese to the sixth grade class, who at that point had a somewhat firm grasp on the english language. Rather than expanding on grammar and vocabulary, he used the last term before the students moved on to middle school to teach them of some of the culture of the english language and the places that use it. That day, he spoke of how different regions of the United States will pronounce words differently, as well as some of the reasons why. Nanako listened intently to the lecture, and she felt more knowledgeable for doing so.   
  


Yu was waiting for Nanako in front of the school as the day ended. He'd received the call from the school when from the phone at the Dojima residence. The two walked among a sea of other students and parents, not paying particular attention to those that surrounded them. 

"Hey big bro?" Nanko started, "did you set my alarm last night?"

"Well, it wasn't the tooth fairy." He replied.

She laughed and nudged him with her shoulder, "Well thanks. It was good to get back to school, makes things feel a little more normal."

He smirked, "I'm glad you got up. If I were you I might've just rolled back over and went back to sleep."

She smiled, "I thought about it, but…" she paused, wondering if she should tell Yu about the velvet room. Maybe not yet, she thought; after all it did sound absurd even to her. "I just had a good feeling about today."

He smiled back, "Well that's great to hear. Sometimes all it takes is a little push to get to where you need to be."

As they turned the corner down the street to her house, she grabbed his arm and squeezed it, "Well thanks for the push."

* * *

  
  


The evening was calm; both Yu and Nanako worked on assignments before making beef stir fry together for dinner. As they ate, Nanako flipped to the news channel, still curious about the details of the shooting. 

The announcer spoke, "...and now for local news. The Inaba region may see itself in the spotlight once more, as two reports of gunshots have been confirmed by the local police; one near midnight last Wednesday and the other at the same time last night. In addition, there is one confirmed victim, who is reported to be in a comatose state in the region's hospital. A spokesperson for the Inaba police had this to say..." 

The scene shifted to a clip recorded just outside the police headquarters. Nanako recognized the detective on screen, but couldn't remember his name.

"We can't be sure about the shooters affiliations or intentions, nor if it was the same subject at both scenes" he began, "all we can do is educate the public, increase patrol, and try to keep anyone else from getting hurt."

The scene cut back to the newsroom, where the anchor continued, "The town of Inaba was witness to a string of murders several years ago, and some residents are voicing their concern that another killer may be on the loose…"

Yu's phone buzzed on the table. He checked it, Nanako saw him read for about ten seconds before looking to her, "Hey, would you be alright if I had a couple people over Saturday. Word got out that I'm here and people want to say hi."

She smiled, even after being gone for years her big bro was still popular, "Will Teddie be one of those people?"

"Absolutely."

"Then I don't mind at all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More buildup, more fun.  
Also I'm actually trying to keep track of dates now to keep things consistent.


	8. Old friends, new stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fun filled evening turns into an interrogation

The rest of the week was mostly uneventful for Nanako. She continued her studies and her classes while listening to the rumours going around her classroom.

_ "I wonder what happened to Nanako? Did she really get sick again?" _

_ "My bus driver got really mean all of a sudden, maybe she knows one of the people who got shot." _

_ "I heard that sometimes, if you're alone at night and put your ear up to a TV while it's off, you can hear ghosts calling from the afterlife." _

As she made her way home Saturday afternoon and stepped inside, she expected to see a few familiar faces sitting casually around the living room. What she didn't expect was to be swarmed by seven different people dog piling/hugging her. She took the affection in stride, enjoying the change of pace from the usual loneliness of coming home from school. As the hoard stepped back, she could see Yu and all his closest friends were there. Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko, Kanji, Naoto, Teddie, even Rise was on a video call from Yu's laptop in the living room.

"Hey everyone!" Nanako said, beaming, "what was all that for."

"Well," Yukiko started, "we all heard about your dad, so Yosuke suggested we have a little party to help cheer you up."

Teddie butted in, "It was paw-ful seeing you so upset, so we've got enough games, movies, food and fur-riends that you won't have time to be sad!"

"The girls even made brownies!" Yosuke grinned, making Kanji twitch involuntarily. Yosuke let out a loud 'ha' while looking at Kanji, "Don't worry, I tested one to make sure it's edible."

Kanji sighed with a little too much relief, prompting Naoto to punch him in the shoulder.

"Hey there Nanako!" Rise called from the living room.

"Hi Rise!" She ran closer to get a better look at the screen, "How are you, how's your European tour going?"

"It's going great!" She was sitting in some sort of green room, still dressed in her Idol getup, "We just wrapped up a show and are about to head to the airport. I'm sorry I can't be there, but I wanted to wish you luck and courage. Oh, and a couple other people did too…"

The camera swiveled to reveal all of Kanamin Kitchen, who were collaborating with Rise on her tour as a double feature. Half a dozen shouts of encouragement blasted through the tiny laptop speakers. Nanko felt truly blessed in that moment, it wasn't every girl who got calls from idols wishing them luck.

Rise readjusted the camera, "We have to get going now, but I'm glad I got to see you. And I promise once the tour is over I'll come visit."

"Sounds good Rise," Nanako was smiling ear to ear, and blushing just enough to be noticeable, "thank you guys so much!"

"Of course! Things will be ok Nanako, we love you!" She made her hands into the shape of a heart before the call ended, cutting off similar yells from the girls offscreen.

  
  


* * *

The night was one to be remembered. Everyone booked the time off to have fun, and fun they had indeed. The afternoon started off with various short board games. Nanako enjoyed seeing how competitive Chie and Naoto got, and how the others were either put off by it or fed off of it themselves. Then came supper; the gang ordered from Aiya for the main meal and had the brownies for dessert. They were delicious, though bordering on too dense. 

"Wow," Kanji said, mouth full of brownie, "this is really good." He swallowed before continuing, "You guys have really improved over the last few years."

"Well I've had a lot of practice," Yukiko said sheepishly, "Though it's harder to find time to cook now that I've basically taken over as manager of the Amagi inn."

"Oh yeah," Yu spoke, "how's that going? Not too much on your plate?"

"It's good, great actually. Its long hours but I love the work, and I feel really good about how the inn is running right now. The staff is phenomenal as always, so they're really keeping the ship sailing."

Chie finished her fifth brownie, "Well no matter how good the crew, no ship can sail without a good captain!"

The group all raised their hands, "Here here!" Nanako laughed as Yukiko blushed.

The night grew late as the gang caught up more and watched various movies. Everyone had brought sleeping bags and pyjamas so they could stay the night. The last movie ended at about 11:30, a fair bit past Nanako's bedtime, but no one intended on sleeping just yet. 

"Ooo! I have an idea," Chie was practicality bouncing on the floor, the sugar from the brownies still coursing through her veins, "lets play truth or dare! Like back when we were in high school!"

Yu and Naoto both shot her a glance that said,  _ "are you sure that's a good idea?" _

"Well… maybe not exactly like in high school," her cheeks reddened slightly as she scratched the back of her head, "no kings cup shenanigans. Just good,  _ clean, _ " she stressed with ridiculous emphasis, "truth or dare."

The gang still seemed skeptical, though no one said anything.

"Oh c'mon guys, it'll be fun. We agreed to put aldulting to the side for one night and just have a good time."

"I want to play," Nanako chimed in, "it's fun with friends. Plus, it'll be a good way to catch up more if people pick truth."

Yu smiled, laughing a bit to himself, "Alright, why don't we start with you then? Truth, or dare?"

Nanako scratched her chin dramatically, as if seriously mulling over her options, "Truth!"

"Out of all of us here, who do you like best?"

She tried to give him an exasperated look, but was smiling too hard to pull it off, "I love everyone here very much, but I  _ think  _ I like you just a little more big bro."

The group went around asking each other questions, as no one wanted to pick dare. Notable revelations included: Kanji and Naoto were in fact dating and not just living together to gain some independence, most of the detective team had at some point had some sort of feelings for Yu, and Chie once sent someone to the hospital with her cooking. 

As the round went through all the participants multiple times it was once again Nanako's turn to ask a question. She was having a lot of fun, but it dawned on her that this could be exactly the situation she needed to get some information. She decided it was worth potentially making things awkward, following her gut instinct.

"Teddie, truth or dare?"

He closed his eyes, smiling his big dopey smile, "Truth!"

"Where are you really from?"

There was a shift in the vibe of the room, those that were talking among themselves were now paying very close attention to the exchange.

"I've told you before Nana-chan, I'm from Sweden, which is in Europe."

"That's what you say, but where are you actually from?"

She glanced out of the corner of her eye, everyone else was looking at each other with either concern or fear.

"Well um- I'm," his eyes darted around, already he was starting to sweat, "I'm not sure what you mean Nana-chan. Where is this coming from?"

"You guys know, don't you?" She spoke to the group as a whole. Those concerned became scared, and those already scared became terrified, "What's the big secret? Why doesn't he grow older like everyone else? Why does he disappear for days at a time? Why can he eat everything one day and go another day without eating at all?" She turned back to the bear obsessed man, "I love you Teddie, and I love how weird you are. But I want to know why, and why you're keeping it a secret."

He looked pleadingly to Yu, "Sensei, I need some help here."

The room fell dead silent, most of the people inside practical holding their breath. After what felt like an eon Yu leaned forward, sighing heavily. "I'll give you the answer, but first you have to answer one more question. Be honest with me, and I'll be honest with you."

Nanako hasn't heard Yu talk like this before, he almost sounded like her dad. "Alright."

"Why are you so interested in this?"

"You're not going to believe me."

Yu's expression became less serious; he recalled when he tried to explain the shadow world to Ryotaro, how he knew he had to be honest, no matter how ridiculous it sounded. "I know when you're being honest. I'll listen."

She took a second to gather her courage; the room was still on edge, and the nervous energy was getting to her. Regardless, after a deep breath she spoke. "A man in my dreams told me that I can do something to save dad. He told me to start I'd have to 'examine the bonds I have formed, those that could never be broken.' I figured I'd start with Teddie since there's still a lot of mystery with him, and something didn't seem right about where he was from, like how he always spoke perfect Japanese and never any Swedish."

Yu leaned forward, a genuine fear in his eyes, "And what was that man's name?"

"He said his name was Igor."

Yu put a hand over his face, rubbing his eyes, "Let me guess; tall, pale, well dressed, noze half the size of his arm, smile too wide for his face, an assistant named Margaret?"

Nanako's eyes went wide, "How did you know all that?"

The gang was in a stunned silence; Yu had told them of Igor before, and how his appearance was a premonition to their entire adventure. 

Yu looked Nanako in the eyes, "how much do you want to know?"

"Everything."

* * *

Over the next hour or so the detective crew explained all of what happened behind the scenes of the TV murders. The midnight channel, the TV world, shadows, personas, Izanami, all of it. Some finer details weren't mentioned to keep things succinct, and to avoid some embarrassment when discussing dungeons, but anything deemed critical was left in. Nanako listened intently, soaking up the information like a sponge. 

As the group finished, Teddie spoke up, "I'm sorry we didn't tell you any of this before Nana-chan."

She shook her head, "No, I understand why. It's kind of confusing, and doesn't sound real. But I know you're not lying, it makes sense based on what I remember from that time. I have a question though."

Chie nodded, "Of course, what do you want to know?"

"So that 'heaven' place you guys found me at, where Namatame took me, is it still there?"

"Uh-huh," Teddie replied, "even after the fog cleared, all the places made by the people who got thrown in are still around."

Nanako had received a lot of information in a very short amount of time, but the fact that that place was real stuck to her most. In the years after her recovery she frequented a therapist at the hospital, weekly at first, but at this point she only visited every few months. The therapist had told her that place was like a dream; that her mind made it up to keep her sane. Yu and his friends were saying that was not the case. Maybe, she thought, this was the path to more information. 

She looked Teddie dead in the eye, "I want to go back there."

There were several audible gasps and exclamations of "What!?" Kanji, however, actually stood up and spoke his mind. "Nanako there's no way in hell we can bring you back there. Haven't you been listening? That place is super messed up and dangerous. Last time you were there it killed you for crying out loud!" Kanji was losing his temper, but he cooled of instantly as he saw Nanako's eyes start to water. "Sorry," he said, scowling and avoiding eye contact, "I'm just scared something's gunna happen if we bring you there. And that ain't a risk I wanna take…" He sat back down, frustrated that he so easily lost his cool.

The room went quiet once more. What started out as a fun filled night had become extremely tense. After dwelling in the quiet for a time, Yu addressed Teddie,

"Are there still shadows inside the TV?"

Teddie looked back at him, "There are; though they don't ever attack me, even when I get close."

"And you're sure  _ all _ of the fog is gone?"

"I am, I've been mostly living there since you left. It would be im-paw-sible for me to have missed it."

A few members of the group giggled, one could always rely on Teddie to lighten the mood.

"Well," Yosuke said to the group, "if we're talking about going back in, I think our leader should get the last say in the matter. We all have our personal opinions, but Yu's in charge of taking care of Nanako for now. That makes it his call."

One by one, the group nodded in agreement.

"So wadda ya say partner," Yosuke asked with his signature smile, "up for one more adventure with a new member?"

Yu took one more look at his cousin; she was obviously resolute in her choice, but if it was going to go well she'd need all the support she could get. If Igor reached out to her then something bigger was going on. He looked around the room, all eyes were on him. 

"Tomorrow, we gear up and meet at Junes at 3pm on the dot. We've got one more mystery to solve."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean she was bound to find out eventually.
> 
> Next couple chapters are going to be fun


	9. A trip down memory lane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The investigation team goes back into the shadow world, not sure exactly what they'll find.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy Nanako's got some trauma to deal with.

The detective crew slept through most of the morning, only waking up collectively around 10:30 am. Everyone, even Yu and Nanako, slept in the living room; it was beyond comforting to sleep surrounded by friends, and it helped ease the worries brought up the previous night. 

Yu and Nanako made omelettes for everyone for breakfast. Something about big meals like this always made Nanako very giddy; maybe because it reminded her of when she was younger, when Yu would invite her along to see his friends. And the fact that it was the same friends now made it feel even better. 

The gang was much more positive this morning; they talked about stories from inside the TV and reminisced about high school. Eventually they talked strategy for the upcoming venture, Yu taking the lead.

"Teddie said the shadows are passive now, but we can't be too careful. Come fully equipped, your armour should be adjustable so you'll all still be able to fit."

Chie put her hands on her hips, "And just what is  _ that _ supposed to mean?"

"It means you can adjust for how buff you've gotten and Yosuke can make extra room for his ego."

Yosuke sharply turned his head, "Wha- hey!"

"Pfft," Yukiko tried to stifle a laugh, but to no avail. Within seconds she was in one of her famous laughing fits. "The delivery," she howled in between laughing and breathing, "it was so perfect!" The rest of the gang laughed along, no one being immune to the pure joy of Yukiko. 

As she calmed down, Yu continued with his plan, "So like I was saying, full gear, weapons and armour. Nanako can't really fight as far as I know, so we have to make sure there's at least one person right next to her at all times. We'll also stop by Daidara to get her some armour. It'll be good to see him again anyhow." He took a few bites of his omelette and a sip of juice, "We don't have Rise with us so Teddie will have to reprise his role as guide for now."

Teddie gave two thumbs up and smiled excitedly, "Can do Sensei, I've been mapping my world for such an occasion!"

"Ted's been working real hard on it," Yosuke said, making Teddie beam even brighter, "It'll come in handy for sure."

"There's only one more thing that needs addressing before we go," Yu turned to Nanako, "There's a chance that while we're there, we'll encounter your shadow. If we do, it's going to say things about you that you will not want to hear, but shadows only ever say what you're feeling deep down. What's important is that you don't reject it outright. Do you understand?"

"Uh-huh," she replied. All this talk about potential danger was making her nervous; but she was also getting very excited to see what this whole other world was like. It was almost like she was going on a grand quest with a team of superheroes, based on what she heard last night at least. 

"All right then," he stood from his seat "we'll see you all in a couple hours."

* * *

  
  


As Yu and Nanako made their way through the shopping district, she couldn't help but stare at what appeared to be an ornate blue door standing on its own near the bookstore. 

"Big bro? Do you see that too?"

He followed her gaze, "Ah, we'll be going eventually. But right now, we get you some armour."

The two entered Daidara metalworks; the smell of burning coal and oil filled the air as they opened the door. Nanako had seen the shop hundreds of times, and even peered through the window once in a while, but this was the first time she actually stepped inside. The walls were filled floor to ceiling with strange and exotic pieces of armour and weapons. There were mannequins displaying some of the more unique looking pieces in various action poses. As she looked around the room she heard a scruffy voice call 'just a moment' from the back.

Within seconds, a tall figure stepped to the shopfront to greet his customers. The man was bald, with a red mustache that extended into his mutton chops. He was muscular in the torso and arms, but his lower body didn't share the same definition. His most discerning characteristic was the large, X shaped scar that covered most of his face. His face lit up as he saw his two clients.

"Yu Narukami!" His voice was deep and scratchy, the tone one might get from smoking for a lifetime, "It is an honour to have you back in my workshop. Have you brought any rare materials with you by chance?"

"Unfortunately not this time Daidara," he shook the shop owner's hand, "though I am here to buy." He put a hand on Nanako's shoulder, who instinctively took half a step behind him. "This young lady is in need of some good armour."

Daidara frowned; he eyed her down, prompting her to step further behind her cousin. She was never fond of strangers, and her experience with one kidnapping her solidified her unease around them. 

"Now Yu," he explained, "you of all people should know I don't do craft projects."

Yu shook his head, "No crafts. We might be getting ourselves into a mess; and if we do, I want her to be as safe as possible."

Daidara's frown flipped, "Well that's all you had to say!" He stepped forward, pulling a measuring tape off the front counter, "We'll have her geared up in no time."

Within the hour, Daidara had modified a thick knitted dress to fit to Nanako's shape. It was kind of heavy, but no worse than a full backpack. "I call this piece, the Haten Robe!" he said proudly, "how does it feel?"

She tested her range of motion; the armour moved freely with her, barely inhibiting her movement if at all. 

"Wow Master Diadara, this is great!"

Yu laughed to himself, "He's the best smith in the county as far as I'm concerned," he unzipped the top of his jacket, revealing a worn scaled breastplate underneath,"his work has saved my bttt more times than I can count."

Nanako put her own jacket over her new gear as Yu settled up payment. "So," Diadara asked, "where are you headed that made you want protection for the little one?"

"Same place as last I'm afraid," he replied, "seems there's some unfinished business there. She's the one who discovered something, so she's gotta tag along."

The scarred man nodded, "Well, best of luck to you both. And if you find any rare materials, you know where to bring them!"

* * *

  
  


The two showed up to the Junes food court right on time, only to find the rest of the team already waiting for them. They all wore fall jackets, Kanji carried a messenger bag, and Teddie was wearing his mascot outfit.

“Not often you’re the last to show up partner.” Yosuke smirked.

Yu pulled up a couple of chairs for himself and Nanako; the food court was basically unoccupied except for them, only a few staff taking their breaks at the far corners.

“You know,” Naoto started, “this is rather nostalgic. Despite the atrocities we were investigating at the time, I always looked forward to Yu’s phone call asking us to meet.”

Yukiko smiled sheepishly, “I was thinking the same thing. “

Kanji laughed to himself, “I remember calling senpai at night sometimes asking if we could go kick some ass the next day. ‘Course it was always when I was feeling antsy or had somethin’ to study for.”

“You too?” Chie and Yosuke asked in unison. 

Nanako sat quietly as the rest of the crew talked for a bit. She always enjoyed just being around people having fun, even if she wasn’t directly participating. As she was looking across the group, she noticed the same fox that greeted her at the shrine had made its way under the table, lying down with its head up.

Eventually the conversations died down, and Yu addressed the team, “Alright investigation team, let’s assess the situation. What do we know so far?”

Naoto spoke first, “At approximately 11:46pm on October 12th, detective Ryotaro Dojima was shot by an unknown assailant. He radioed for backup shortly after,” she took out her notepad to reference, “police and EMTs were on the scene within minutes. At the moment Inanba PD has made no comment on who the perpetrator could be, but based on information Nanako gave me it could have been related to the case he was working.” She looked to Nanako expectantly.

“Oh,” she cleared her voice and sat up straight, “I don’t have all the details, but from the bits I’ve heard dad was working on tracking down some kind of drug. The police believed it was in the city, but not being sold yet.” She tried her best to mimic the detective’s tone and vocabulary, wanting to sound like she knew what she was talking about, “We also know that there’s been a second shooting. An officer came to my school Thursday to give a lecture on safety; she said there had been two reports of gunshots, and the news that night said there was one known victim. We know the victim is dad, so that means either the other person wasn’t found yet or they didn’t actually get shot.”

Naoto took some more notes, “I was not aware of that, thank you Nanako.”

Teddie took his turn to speak next, “The TV world has been the same, it hasn’t really changed at all since we defeated Izanami. So we don’t have to worry about that at least.”

Yu spoke next, “But we know Nanako was contacted by Igor, and made a contract. When I made my contract, I promised to solve the mystery that was plaguing the TV world, and that led to everything else.” He turned to his cousin, “If I’m right your contract was made with the ema, you promised yourself that dad would wake up.”

She blinked at him, “Yeah,” looks like Yu wasn’t the leader of the investigation team for nothing, “also, did you just call him dad?”

Yu chuckled, “I guess I did, didn’t I?” he kept the same smile on his face as he continued, “Regardless, that means there’s something we can do about his condition.”

“Igor told me to start looking for answers in the bonds I have,” Nanako elaborated, “and to trust my instincts. I felt figuring out more about Teddie would be the best place to start, and that leads us to here and now.”

The group sat silent for a second, seemingly content with the information shared. Yu stood from his seat, the fox lunging to stand beside him, “Alright then, let's get going.”

Nanako got more and more excited the deeper they went into Junes, and at the same time more nervous. There might be a lot of dangerous things in this other world, and she’d be seeing a place that had a lot of bad memories associated with it. She grabbed onto her big bro’s arm and took a deep breath; she felt in her gut that this was the path she needed to take, and her friends would keep her safe no matter what happened. 

Within just a minute, the gang was standing in front of a massive, if slightly outdated, flat screen TV. They were inside a storage/break room that Yosuke let them into. The gang had explained to Nanako last night that where you ended up in the TV world depended on where you went in in the real world. They used to go in a TV in the electronics section, but that wasn’t always convenient since they didn’t want people seeing them as they did so. Teddie was able to move the exit to this TV so that he could go back and forth in peace, and now that the fog was gone they didn’t have to worry about getting lost.

Yu stuck one hand through the TV, the screen rippling like water around it. Despite knowing this would happen, the sight still shocked Nanako; it was different thinking something and actually seeing it happen for real, like knowing her dad was hurt verses actually seeing him in the hospital. He reached out his other hand towards her, “Ready to go?” She squared her shoulders and nodded, jumping in with him.

* * *

  
  


Nanako fell hard, or she would have if Yu hadn’t been holding onto her, keeping her from actually hitting the ground. One by one the other members of the detective team landed by them, some more gracefully than others. 

Nanako took stock of her new surroundings, this was a strange place indeed. They were currently standing on what appeared to be a TV set of a bedroom, with only two walls and no ceiling. As she stared off into the distance there were several buildings jutting out from the ground at odd angles and in strange shapes, interconnected with pieces of road or walkways of various kinds. She could also see areas of nature untouched by these strange buildings, such as a lake surrounded by grasslands.

As Nanako looked around, the rest of the gang took out their concealed weapons. Yosuke and Yukiko pulled a pair of kunai and an ornamental fan respectively out of their jackets, Yu pulled a sword out of his pant leg (he had been walking surprisingly well with it there) and removed the cloth it was wrapped in, Kanji pulled a slab of metal with handholds from his messenger bag, Naoto un-holstered her revolver, Teddie pulled wolverine-esque claws from within his costume, and Chie unzipped the lower half of her cargo pants revealing metal greaves. They went about stretching and taking a few practice swings.

“Wow,” Yukiko exclaimed, “it’s been so long yet I still remember my technique.”

Chie smiled, performing two back-to-back thrust kicks, “That muscle memory doesn’t fade easy you know.”

Naoto aimed her gun at the wall and shot, making sure her sight was correctly aligned. Her revolver here was not the same standard issue gun she used in the field; it never seemed to need reloading or run out of ammunition. It also was much more dangerous, while producing almost no recoil. Perhaps, she had considered, it was because Diadara had forged it from materials found in this world. She looked to Yu, who was taking a few practice swings, “Does Nanako have a weapon?”

“She does not,” he grunted, taking one last swing, “I figured Diadara wouldn’t legally be able to sell one to her, and even if I said it was for me we don’t know what her style is yet.”

Kanji interrupted, “Yeah, we all figured ours out once we got our personas. Speakin’ of,” he took a couple steps back from the group, “Dairoku Tenmaou!” He closed his hand in front of him as he shouted the name, a card appearing before him in the process. The card immediately shattered as a massive figure took its place. It was a metallic humanoid, maybe four meters tall, with its arms and legs painted in a flame pattern like a hot rod. It had two golden bars jutting from its face like an exaggerated mustache, and it wielded in one of it’s demonic hands a sword made of fire. It stood for a moment before turning to Kanji, nodding, and fading into nothing.

“Fuck yeah!” Kanji hollered, “oh man it's been WAY too long since I got to do that shit!”

“Language!” Yu and Yukiko shouted back at the same time. Nanako just giggled, it wasn’t like she hadn’t heard adults swear before.

Kanji looked back at the two who called him out, “Oh c’mon, we brought Nanako to the goddamn shadow world. She can stand to hear me say the fuck word.”

Nanako erupted into a loud burst of laughter, which was quite unlike her. Usually she was quiet in her laughing, but the sheer absurdity of the whole situation drew a full, lung draining laughing fit out of her. The fit proved to be contagious, having most of the crew laughing along as well as bringing Yukiko to the floor in a fit of her own. Once the gang regained their composure the mood grew slightly heavier as everyone remembered where they were going.

“Teddie, lead the way.” Yu commanded.

He gave an over the top salute and furrowed his brow, “Aye-aye sensei!”

  
  


* * *

The investigation team made their way through the maze that was the TV world, following Teddie's map. Nanako now understood how they couldn’t navigate it without the help of Teddie or Rise when it was filled with fog; there were diverting paths everywhere, and open spaces acting as nexuses in between some of them. She wouldn’t feel comfortable navigating on her own, thought the crew around seemed to know approximately where they were going even without Teddie’s help.

Before long, the team was standing at a heavenly gate; a castle wall topped with lush greenery stood beyond a marble path lined on both sides with massive potted greens and flowers. An enormous beanstalk surrounded in sporadic floating boulders ascended from within, disappearing into a layer of clouds above. An inviting white light shined from beyond the open portcullis, and a rainbow framed the entrance. It was a beautiful sight, only tainted by the memories of what occurred there some five years ago. 

Nanako took a step forward, looking up at the beanstalk, “How high does it go?”

“Ten floors,” Yu replied without hesitation.

Nanako thought for a second, something was drawing her upwards. She’d let her instincts get her this here, might as well see how far she could go. “Then let's get climbing.”

* * *

  
  


The climb to the tenth paradise was an easy one, though quite stressful for most of the team. Without Rise there, they had little clue what lied beyond each door or around each corner. Luckily for them the open concept of the dungeon was navigated easily enough with no fog to obscure it; and there were no shadows around to assail the group as they ventured on.

Eventually they arrived at the final paradise, where a gateway led to a floating island surrounded by angelic statues. This was the place Nanako remembered being, where Namatame had taken her. This was the place she had nightmares about, that the therapists convinced her wasn’t real. She shuttered; a sudden fear gripped at her chest and refused to let go. The fear grew stronger as she noticed a figure sitting in the centre of the small island.

“Uh… guys?”

The investigation team was still catching their breath from the long climb, but immediately assumed an offensive stance noticing Nanako’s fear. 

She pointed to the island, and the group all saw the figure; though it was impossible to see what it was at this distance.

Yosuke looked to Yu, “What’s the call?”

“Proceed with caution, and be ready to fight or run. We don’t have Rise, so we’ll be limited to trial and error to see what works and what doesn’t if we get into a scuff. Standard plan if things go south; Kanji and Chie go on the offensive physically, Yukiko and Teddie keep everyone healthy and get magic damage in when you can. Watch your spirit though, we can’t have you exhausting yourselves completely. Naoto, Yosuke and I will be auxiliary, taking on roles as needed. Refer to me if we need a change of plans, got it?”

The group nodded, their old roles coming back to them easily. 

“Nanako you stay behind us, and remember what I said about your shadow; whatever you do, don't reject it.”

She took a deep breath to try to keep from shaking, “Ok.”

As they approached the figure, they saw what appeared to be a little girl. She was maybe 120cm tall, wore bright pink loafers and a dress that was pink at the top, a light red in the middle, and crimson at the bottom, over a white turtleneck. She had light brown hair that was kept in two short pigtails by pink bows. A dark aura seemed to drift slowly off of her skin. This was without a doubt Nanako’s shadow, and it took the form of her seven year old self, exactly as she was when she entered the TV world for the first time. It sat in the middle of the island in the fetal position, and could be heard weeping as the gang approached.

The shadow looked up, dark blue tears streaming from its yellow eyes, staining its face, hands, and dress, “What?” It spoke with a strained voice, as someone would if they had been crying for an extended period of time. The voice was unmistakably Nanako’s, though it was higher pitched than her current voice. Additionally, a deep echo followed her words much like the other’s shadows had previously encountered. “Did you come back just to get my hopes up?” There was a fiery anger in its voice, a genuine fury that no one could have even pictured coming from Nanako.

The detective team recoiled slightly; if this was a manifestation of her deepest thoughts, then what was she hiding from them?

“Wh- what do you mean?” Yukiko asked.

“Oh don’t act like you don’t know Ms. manager!” the shadow stood up to face them, the rage becoming even more obvious in its body language. “You all act like you care, you pretend you like me and want to spend time with me and are happy when I’m around. But as soon as something happens that makes you choose between me and it I always get left behind.” A hint of the anger faded, a deeper sadness taking its place.

“ ‘Not today Nanako,’ ‘maybe some other time Nanako,’ ‘sorry I’m just too busy Nanako,’ people always have excuses. The only people who ever cared enough to make time for me were mommy, and big bro,” impossibly large tears rolled down her cheeks onto the floor, as it began speaking through sobs, “but mommy is dead, and big bro is gone to school. I thought daddy was going to actually spend time with me, but now he’s going to die too.”

Several members of the detective team looked visibly hurt, the shadow was mentioning times they themselves had brushed her off for more pressing matters.

“Everyone is going to move on from me,” the anger was gone from its voice, only sadness remained, “the sooner you stop pretending to like me the sooner I can stop holding you back.” It wiped its face with its sleeve, staining it in more blue, “I’m going to be alone in the end anyway, I might as well get used to it early.”

Seeing the sadness held within the shadow, the members of the investigation team themselves were on the verge of tears; they all adored Nanako, and were unprepared for the sheer amount of loneliness and loathing coming from her innermost thoughts. Even the ever strong Naoto and the never serious Yosuke were starting to sniffle.

“That’s not true,” Nanako took a step forward; her voice was steady, but tears streamed down her own face, “these are my friends, and they care about me.”

“Maybe for now,” anger surfaced in the shadow’s voice once more, “but what about in a few years huh? Everyone is going to get a real life and get married and move away. You don’t think they’d stay in Inaba just to keep you from getting lonely?” Rather than rage, frustration took the shadow’s voice, “All you do is hold them back! Yu could be in school getting his degree right now, Yukiko could be running her inn, Yosuke could be working on getting a promotion, Naoto could be working on a case, Kanji could be helping his mom run the shop, Chie could be teaching kung-fu. Rise is on tour worried sick about you, how do you think that’ll affect her singing? They only spend time with you because they feel bad for you, and the sooner you tell them to leave, the better it is for everyone.”

It took everything Nanako had not to break down entirely, and the investigation team wasn’t doing much better. “No!” she shouted, “No they like me! They like to be around me! They’re here with me cause they really care! You don’t know them!”

The shadow screamed out in anger, “They don’t care! And I do know them, because I’m you!”

Yu shouted as loud as he could, “Nanako don’t!”

His words were in vain though; just as the others did before her, she cried out at the shadow that stood before her, “No, you’re lying! You’re not me!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for a boss fight


	10. I'll face myself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako's shadow goes berserk, and the investigation team has to take it down.

Nanako had done the very thing she was told absolutely not to do; she rejected her shadow. Before she had time to truly process what she'd just done her knees gave out under her. The aura surrounding her shadow grew stronger and shadows swarmed the two of them, coalescing into a swarm. 

The investigation team braced themselves against the shadows rushing past them to join the mass; opening their eyes to see the enraged doppelganger in its new form. A small vaguely humanoid shape floated in the centre of rotating and revolving rings, creating a barrier six rings deep between the figure and the team. Each layer was uniquely hazardous; they were respectively spiked, serrated, barbed, hooked, sharpened, and massive. 

"I am a shadow, the true self," it spoke, "the sooner you all learn to leave me alone, the better off you'll be."

Yu had hoped they could avoid this; deep down he knew when they entered the TV world with Nanako that they’d encounter her shadow. He’d hoped his warning would be enough, that they could talk with Nanako and have her come to terms with whatever she was hiding inside. He’d hoped it would be something simple, something that could be justified or explained. He doubted even she knew just how much she was holding back, how dark the thoughts she kept at bay were. But hoping then wasn’t helping now; he took a tighter grasp of his sword, wiping his teary eyes on his shoulder, “Alright guys, now or never. Let’s save Nanako!”

The team steeled themselves, ready to take down yet another personal shadow, something they thought they’d never have to do again.

“You won’t leave?” it asked rhetorically, “then I’ll have to make you go.”

Chie rushed the shadow, giving a strong kick to the massive outermost ring. There was a distinct crunch sound as her attack rebounded. She hobbled backwards, “Ye-ouch, physical attacks are no good.”

Yosuke summoned Susano-o and healed Chie, bringing her back to decent shape. 

The shadow was the next to make its move; it created a Red wall and a White wall around itself.

Teddie called out, “Fire and Ice are less effective.”

Yu, Yosuke and Kanji took their chance; they summoned their personas and struck at the shadow with two bolts of lightning and a gust of wind. The hits landed, rocking the shadow and causing the rings to spin off kilter and bump into each other slightly before returning to their previous positions. The Shadow was strong, and wasn’t going to go down easily.

Yukiko tried a fireball, but the red wall absorbed most of the impact. 

Naoto meanwhile used Mind Charge, charging for an almighty attack to come.

The shadow took its chance during the lul to put up a Blue Wall and a Green Wall.

“Aw man,” Yosuke yelled, “we can barely chip at it like this!”

Just then the outermost ring made its way off the shadow and flew through the group, bludgeoning the team before returning to its origin. It had some serious force behind it, nearly knocking down Chie in its sweep. 

Yukiko healed the party, as Teddie gave them a boost in defense.

Naoto released her charged up attack, piercing the defenses of the shadow. The hit, she felt, was somewhat lackluster; it had barely budged, which was nothing close to the usual reaction of struggling to stay upright.

The battle went back and forth, a war of attrition on both sides. The investigation team kept themselves as buffed and as healed as possible while chipping away at the shadow as it struck at different targets with different rings. Any time one of its walls fell, it would put it right back up, along with putting up magical mirrors rather frequently. 

The gang was slowly exhausting themselves; their inability to use physical attacks meaning they had to consistently use spirit. Chie had already exhausted her own supply, and Kanji wasn't far behind her. They tried to use items more and their personas less, but that just postponed the inevitable; at the rate things were going, they were going to run out of resources before the shadow did. 

The shadow’s rings started to spin faster, “Fine,” it shouted, “if you can’t see you’re better off without me, then you’re better off dead.”

Yu had seen the sign many times before, it was charging something big. “Everyone on guard!”

The team had just enough time to assume a defensive stance before all of the rings flew from the shadow and into the group, their various jutting hazards doing a real number. Had Teddie not just buffed them, several members could have been knocked down in that swing. Chie, however, emerged unscathed; Suzuka Gongen reflecting the attack back at the shadow. Upon getting hit by the reflection the shadow writhed in pain; having taken its only serious hit so far. 

Yu had an idea; he switched persona’s to one who reflected physical attacks and put up a physical shield on Yukiko. “No one attack it,” he commanded, “use the few physical mirrors we have. Either guard or heal going forward."

The gang quickly adapted to the new plan, Yosuke, Kanji, and Naoto using the last of the physical mirrors in their arsenal. The shadow itself put up a physical and magical mirror, fortifying its defences even further. 

Teddie brought the group back to full health as the rings started to gain speed again. Yu had just enough time to put a barrier on Teddie before the rings came tearing through again. The shadow shrieked in pain and anger as each and every one of its attacks were reflected, Suzuka Gongen once again coming in clutch to protect Chie.

This time, the rings did not return to orbit the shadow; instead, they fell on the ground beneath it. As the last reflection hit the shadow. it too fell to the ground.

The team looked at Yu expectantly, they might not get another chance like this.

"All in, let's take it down!"

The team rushed through the translucent coloured walls and the discarded rings to strike at the core of the being. Every hit caused massive damage, as the being lied defenseless against the onslaught. As the dust settled and the investigation team pulled back, the shadow remained unmoving on the ground; its form fading into a black mist before once again revealing Nanako and her doppelganger. 

The team rushed to the girl's side, relieved to see her sit up on her own. Yu dropped his sword and wrapped her in the biggest, warmest hug me could muster.

"I'm so sorry," he said, voice trembling "I had no idea."

She returned the hug, but said nothing. When the shadow went berserk it took over her mind to a point. She had no choice but to feel all the pain and fear she had been hiding from for years. It felt awful if she was being honest with herself, but she couldn't deny it any longer. 

"Why?" The shadow was crying again, "Why are you still here? What's the point if you're all just going to leave me in the end?"

"The point," Nanako said, stepping out of her cousin's arms to face her shadow, "is that they're here now. You're right, the people I love aren't always going to be here for me. Life is going to change, and they're going to get new jobs and get married and move away; but that doesn't mean they don't care, it would be selfish to expect them to stay just for me. That's why they're spending time with me now, cause they know they won't always have the chance."

She stepped closer to her shadow, "We might end up alone, but I would rather be sad remembering all the good times we had with our friends than push them away to try not to feel anything at all. And I know you would too, because you're me."

The shadow smiled, nodding slowly. Its form faded, and another one took its place; a comically large man in a white robe, with binoculars for eyes and the world's brightest smile. As the image faded, she heard a voice jolly voice in her head, "I am Pu-tai," it said, "and together we will make many friends, and guide them all to joy."

A wave of exhaustion hit her; she fell on the ground, nearly avoiding passing out. She blinked her vision back into focus, turning to Yu, who had kneeled down beside her. "Sorry I made my shadow go crazy. It was saying such mean things, I couldn't…"

Yu cut her off, "Hey, don't worry about it. With what it was saying it wasn't really going to go any other way."

Yosuke laughed to himself, "Plus, it's not like any of us accepted our shadows right off the hop either," he gestured to Kanji, "we almost had to fight sauna mc.muscles' shadow twice before he got the picture."

"Yosuke, if I wasn't so tired I'd," he glanced at Naoto, her obvious concern reminding him he didn't need to be the tough guy, "remind you that it bugs me when you talk about the sauna."

"Right, sorry." Despite all this time, Yosuke still wasn't used to the more sensitive Kanji. He almost missed the death threats; those he could just run from, now he actually had to own up when he screwed up.

Chie put an arm around Nanako's shoulder, "Seriously Nanako, we all know how hard it is to face yourself."

Teddie interrupted, "Even when I knew what would happen, I rejected my shadow. It made me so fur-ious that I couldn't stop myself."

"Exactly," Chie continued, "it's why we came prepared like we did, incase this happened."

Yu spoke again, "I'm just sorry you felt you had to hide all of that from us."

Nanako shook her head, "Its ok, it's not your fault. I was so scared of losing you guys and ending up alone that I had a hard time appreciating the time we do have together. Deep down, I wanted you all to stay here and never leave; but I realize now thats not going to happen. Things will change, people will come and go, and sometimes drift apart. But just because we might drift in the future doesn't mean that we're not friends now, it's the opposite. It means we're friends until we end up drifting, and I want to appreciate you guys while you're still here."

Big cartoonish tears started falling from Teddie's mascot eyes, "Oh Nana-Chan!" He wrapped her in a big bear hug, the rest of the team joining in on the effort.

"Alright guys, let's give her some space," Yu said after a moment, "Teddie, how 'bout you get us out of here."   
  
  


* * *

The investigation team spent some time in the Junes break room re-hydrating and tending to their wounds. It was evening at this point; the gang had spent over four hours inside the TV.

"Ouch," Yukiko groaned, "how did we used to do that several times a week?"

"I think a lot of little fights hurt way less than a big one," Kanji responded, "when we were fightin' our way through a dungeon we always left 'cause we were exhausted. Only once in a while did we really get our shit kicked in."

Yu looked over Nanako, making sure she didn't have any serious injuries. Luckily she seemed physically fine, no blood or tenderness to be found. 

Teddie asked the question that was on everyone's mind, "So, is the investigation team getting back together?" His words were hopeful, it seemed Nanako wasn't the only one feeling lonely. 

Yu answered before anyone else got the chance, "Well that depends on a few things. Nanako and I are going to visit Igor when we get the chance, hopefully tomorrow. He'll give us a way forward. Beyond that, I know a lot of us have real jobs we need to tend to; it won't be as easy to just dip out for a night as it was in high school."

The team reluctantly agreed; they were each trying to figure out how to approach the subject, but Yu had put it best. 

Nanako spoke up next, "Like I said before, I don't want you guys to drop everything just to help me. Once we know a little more about what's going on, we can make a schedule to know who'll be around when. That way, if it doesn't look too dangerous, we can go in with only a few people while everyone else deals with life here."

Naoto smiled, "I can see where your big bro got his leadership skills from."

Nanako giggled, then yawned; she was starting to have trouble staying awake. 

Yu laughed, "I think that's our cue," he stood up from his seat, stowing his re-wrapped sword, "great job today everyone. We'll let you know once we have a plan going forward. For now, get some rest."

Nanako waved goodbye to everyone before walking home, holding onto her big bro's arm the whole way. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God that was fun to write. I had some trouble at first with describing the combat, but once I dropped some of the specifics it started to flow a lot better. A good warmup, there'll be more where that came from... eventually.


	11. Interlude, an old enemy.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adachi gets a phonecall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place in the few days between Yu getting Nanko's phonecall and making his way back to Inaba.

_ Yamagata prison, Yamagata. _

"After spending five years in a cell," Adachi thought to himself, " you start to get used to it. Sure being watched all the time sucks, but on the outside I had Dojima breathing down my neck anyway." 

The convict sat alone in a small cell. Being an ex-cop meant he got a cell to himself for his own safety. It also meant he rarely interacted with other inmates.

"I'm living off government cash right now. No rent no grocery bill and no boring ass paperwork. This is the dream."

Every day he told himself more or less the same thing. Truth was he didn't really believe any of it. He was starting to go crazy, agreeing to play by the rules of the "real world" was the worst choice he ever made. He's had a hand full of chances to jump into a tv since he arrived, but something always stopped him from going through with it.

And he hated himself for it.

His spiraling thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the phone console on his wall. Prisoners each had access to a phone, though outgoing calls cost per minute. Adachi never had anyone to call, nor anyone who actually wanted to call him. Until then that was.

He wondered who it could be as he reached for the receiver. A warden was on the other end of the line, acting as an operator.

"You have an incoming call from a Mr. Yu Narokami."

Adachi smirked, "Alright, I'll talk to him."

Yu Narokami, the only person ever to visit him in this hell hole. He had a weird relationship with the kid; on the one hand he hated Yu's guts, what him being the whole reason he got caught in the first place. On the other hand he was one of the few people who knew what really happened, how Izanami used him as a puppet for her own goals. He treated Adachi not as some sick criminal mastermind, but as an asshole who got in too deep. And that was refreshing if nothing else.

"Hello Adachi." Said Yu as the call connected.

"Narukami, to what do I owe the pleasure?" His sarcasm was thick like syrup, "Wanting to make sure the other prisoners aren't bullying me?"

"Dojima's in the hospital. He might not make it, just thought you deserved to know."

Adachi scoffed, "Serves the prick right. One fewer assholes breathing my air if you ask-."

The line dies before he can finish, leaving only the dial tone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took a bit of a hiatus to deal with life, so I figured an interlude would be good to get back into the swing of things as well as break the previous act from the next. 
> 
> Updates probably won't be frequent, but they will happen eventually.


	12. The velvet door

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako and Yu visit Igor, after she deals with shcool that is.

Nanako woke to the sound of her alarm, jarring her from the dream she was having. She turned it off and rubbed her eyes as she sat up. Her sleep had been somewhat restless that night; memories of her first visit to the shadow world had collided with her excursion the previous day, bringing a sea of unresolved emotions to the front of her unconcious. She found that she had to keep telling herself that yes, it was all real. She was starting to understand some of what Yu and his friends had gone through years ago, not being able to tell anyone what they knew; she was sure she'd be ridiculed or labeled insane if she tried to explain the situation to anyone not directly involved. She took another look at the iridescent key on her chain, still sitting on the desk where she put it. It was the only physical proof that this couldn’t be a fabrication. She took it into her hand, and got ready to face the day.

She and Yu had a simple breakfast of fruit and cereal that morning, neither having the energy to cook anything complicated. 

"How are you feeling?" He asked while peeling a couple oranges.

"I'm ok," she paused to stretch, "I'm kinda tired though. Feels like I didn't sleep very long."

"Yeah, facing yourself can do that. Not that I'd really know, not personally anyway." He brought the food to the table to sit with her. "It may take a bit, maybe even a few days, but it'll pass eventually."

"You sure?"

"Well it did for everyone else. So there's no reason it wouldn't."

The two sat and ate in silence, quietly enjoying each other's company. Soon enough it was about time for Nanako to get going. 

"Oh, just so you know," she started as she grabbed her backpack, "I have piano lessons after school today, so I'll be home late."

"About what time is 'late'?"

"Around 5:30, maybe a little later."

Yu continued talking as he cleared the table, "Why don't I pick you up from the bus stop after you're done? It would be a good chance to visit Igor."

She nodded, "Sounds good, I'll see you then."

She wrapped him in a big hug before jogging out the door.

"Love you Nanako," Yu shouted after her.

“Love you too!”

* * *

The school day proved to be a test of Nanako’s Diligence. She had underestimated her fatigue, and it grew worse in each additional class. It took most of what she had that day just to stay awake. Luckily, she was able to take a ten minute nap on her desk at lunch. Thanks to that, she was able to not only stay awake but actually pay attention during the afternoon.

In science class that afternoon, the teacher explained an upcoming group project. The groups were to do a research project on various forms of energy production. They would have to put together a slideshow and explain their various benefits and drawbacks. The teams and subjects were already assigned, and it seemed Nanako would be working with her classmates Ruri and Gina. Most of the class was in groups of four, but all three girls of the group were doing well in the class. Nanako concluded that the instructor had probably put them together with the intent of not putting any of them at a disadvantage. 

The girls sat together as the subjects were handed out. Ruri was from a family with money, and it showed in the way she carried herself. Her black hair was always very well kept, in a smooth ponytail, hardly bobbing as she walked around with near perfect posture. Rumour had it that she was in public school because her parents wanted her not to develop an elitist mindset. To the girl’s credit, she didn’t put herself above others based on income. Though she would occasionally pull the “I’m smarter than you” card, especially on boys. Gina, on the other hand was a bit of a mystery. The short haired blond rarely spoke with any of her classmates; and the few times she did it was never about herself. Nevertheless she always got her work done and fulfilled her role in groups.

Ruri nabbed the subject paper as the teacher placed it on the table in front of the group, “Wind power huh?” she muttered, absentmindedly playing with hair. “Should be a piece of cake.”

The other girls nodded in agreement. “We should each look into specific pieces of it, that way there’s no wasted time.” Nanako suggested.

“Sounds good,” Ruri replied, “Why don’t you look into how hard they are to set up and where good and bad places for them are. Gina can look into power output compared to other sources. I’ll look into the cost, both of the equipment and maintenance. Sound good?”

Nanako’s eyes narrowed in irritation. She and Ruri were alike in many ways, one of which being that they liked to be in charge. This applied especially to projects like this, which was a problem as only one of them could truly take the lead. She closed her eyes and took a breath; the two had gotten into arguments over this in the past, but this time Nanako was going to be the bigger person.

She put on as genuine of a smile as she could muster, “Sounds great to me.”

* * *

After the school day had ended, Nanako found herself walking to the bus stop with nearly a dozen of her classmates, including Sui. They talked amongst each other, discussing their weekends and classes and so on. After a few minutes of small talk, one student in the group decided to ask the question on everyone's mind.

"So… Nanako," the boy started, his bright yellow hat matching his similarly bright jacket, “What happened on that week you weren’t at school? Are you dying again?”

“Satoshi!” Sui cried out, “don’t be insensitive.”

He put his hands up defensively, “Hey, I'm just asking a question.”

“With all the tact of a six year old,” muttered one of the other girls.

“Well…” his cheeks grew red, “no one else was going to! I was just-”

“It’s alright,” Nanako cut him off, “I’d be curious too.”

Sui turned sharply to her friend, mouth opening and closing a couple times before the words could come out. “Nanako,” she stammered, “you don’t have to-”

“I said it’s alright,” Her voice was firm, but it kept the kindness that always filled it. “news can get around fast in this town anyway. It’s probably better in the end if I tell you guys, but I have one condition.”

The preteens, all hungry for any drama they could get their hands on, stopped in their tracks to listen to the girl. 

“If anyone asks, you tell them what I’m going to tell you. I don’t want any rumours or lies going around, just the truth.”

The huddled group all agreed, though with varying levels of enthusiasm. 

She took a deep breath, her heart rate going up by the second. Just days ago she didn’t want anyone knowing about her dad, fearing it would burden people or drive them away. Her head was clearer now though; after facing her shadow she felt it was better people knew. She didn’t have a say over how they’d react but that was ok. At the very least it would mean she didn’t have to hide it anymore, which meant one less burden to carry. And besides, what is a friend if not someone to lean on from time to time, and someone who can lean on you in return.

“My dad was shot on the job.” She swallowed, trying to clear her throat, “He’s in a coma at the hospital. He might not wake up…” It took everything she had to keep her composure. Despite being on a quest that would supposedly save her dad, she had no way of knowing if she’d ever actually succeed. She’d been so busy the past few days she hadn’t considered the possibility of failure; but thinking of her dad now brought that fear into her.

The group of teens looked frantically back and forth at each other. Once again Satoshi asked the floating question. “Wait, was he one of the victims?”

Nanako nodded, saying nothing, but breathing heavily.

A flurry of follow ups came from all sides all at once. 

_ Do you know who did it? _

_ Why did they go after your dad?  _

_ Do you think you’re safe? _

_ Do you know who could be next? _

_ Who- _

“That’s enough!” Nanako shouted, instantly silencing the crowd. She took another breath, regaining her composure. “He’s alive right now, that’s all I know.

“I’m sorry…” Satoshi kicked at the ground and looked at his feet, “I shouldn’t have opened my big mouth. This has got to be hard on you, especially since you don’t have a mom and all.”

“Satoshi I swear!” The group could practically see the steam coming off of Sui’s head.

Nanako chuffed, wiping her teary eyes “It is hard. But now you all know it makes things a little bit easier.” 

One of the guys in the group put a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, if you ever need anything you let us know, ok?”

Sui took a step closer to her, “We’re all want to see you happy, so you feel free to lean on us whenever you need.”

One by one the rest of the group shared a similar sentiment. Her friends really did want to help her; not because they felt they had to, but because they genuinely cared for her. Her heart swelled, as she was reminded how loved she was.

A voice rang in her head, the same she heard when she accepted her shadow. “Your bonds are stronger! And your powers grow with them. We will guide these bonds to joy, and they will in turn guide us to victory!”

“Nanako?” 

She shook her head, Sui’s voice pulling her back into the moment. “Oh, sorry. I guess I just needed to take a second. I’m still really tired.” 

“Yeah, I noticed you were yawning all day,” Sui took a few steps forward as she spoke, “did you have a rough night?”

“Yeah, but I'm ok now.”

* * *

Yu checked his phone. 5:45, “Nanako’s bus should be pulling in any minute.” he thought. He stretched on the bench. He had spent most of that day giving the house a proper cleaning; he did the laundry, swept the floors, dusted, even washed the soap scum out of the bathtub. He had decided early that day to do the housework, but forgot just how intensive that was compared to his apartment. It had taken him quite a bit longer than anticipated, especially given how sore he was from the previous night.

He heard the tell-tale sound of air brakes in the distance, signaling the bus was just a few stops away. He rubbed some of the fatigue from his eyes as he waited for it to pull up to where he was seated. As it stopped, he saw a few other commuters walk off the bus before Nanako did. She looked as tired as he felt, dark bags starting to form under her eyes. Regardless, she put on a huge smile as she walked up to the bench.

“Hey big bro!”

“Hey Nanako,” he pulled her in for a hug, “how was your day?”

She yawned loudly, nuzzling into his chest, “It was long, but good.” As she took a step back out of the hug, she pursed her lips, “I… may have ended up possibly telling some friends at school the truth about dad.” she murmured.

Yu raised an eyebrow, “Oh yeah, how’d that go.”

She exhaled, relieved Yu didn't seem to have a problem with her having told people, “Not bad actually. They were pretty understanding, once they stopped being so curious at least.” She smiled softly, “They all said they were there for me if I needed, so that was really nice.”

“Well I’m happy to hear that.” He stood from the bench, stretching once more, “though if you don’t mind me asking, what made you want to tell them?”

“My friend Satoshi asked. Do you know him?”

He pondered a moment, “I think so. I’m pretty sure he was one of the kids at the daycare I used to work at.” He shook his head, “Either way, I don’t know him well.”

They made their way through the shopping district as they continued talking. “Well I’m glad I told them,” she continued, “Even if the truth hurts sometimes, you can’t hide from it. Once you accept it, that’s when you can start working to make it better.”

He let out an airy chortle, “Looks like you’re six years ahead of the curve.”

She wasn’t quite sure what he meant by that, but she put her question to the side as they approached the strange glowing blue door. 

"This is the entrance to the velvet room," he explained, "as far as I know only people with keys can see it."

Nanako took a closer look at the door, “This isn’t a trick right?” she asked, “This is really here, right?”

He knocked on it twice, a dull wooden thud coming from each hit. “It is for us at least.”

“And it really leads to the velvet room, right?”

“Every time I went through it it did. No reason it shouldn't this time.”

Still skeptical, she took out her key and brought it up to the door. She paused, furrowing her brow. There was no lock on this door, nor a handle. On a whim she tried pressing the key to the door near the centre. She jumped slightly as a lock materialized just in time to catch the key. She paused, looking again to Yu. He gave her a smile and nodded. She looked back at the door, and turned the key while taking in a deep breath. With a loud creak, the door opened, revealing the silver and blue interior beyond. Nanako instinctively grabbed Yu’s hand, and the two stepped into the room.

* * *

Nanako blinked to adjust to the ambient light of the velvet room. The now familiar sight coming into focus. The calming tune played through the air as always, and the same inhabitants sat as they did before. Yu took a look all around the room, furrowing his brow as his eyes scanned across it .

“Welcome to the velvet room!” announced Igor. “My my,” he looked directly at Yu for a moment, “you are simply full of surprises young Nanako.”

Yu nodded to him, “Pleasure to see you again, and you too Margret.”

Nanako looked at the woman, who while still calm and composed, was blushing slightly as she nodded.

“I see you’ve remodelled the place,” Yu mused, “I was honestly hoping to see the limousine one more time.”

“The velvet room always takes the form most beneficial for its guests.” Igor stated, “Now,” he pointed to the chair in front of him, “have a seat Nanako. We have much to discuss.”

Nanako took her usual seat as Igor requested. Yu went to grab one of the chairs at a nearby table; but as he tried to pull it from its spot it phased through his hand, refusing to move at all.

“I’m afraid,” Igor explained, “that your contract with us has been completed Yu Narumkami. If I were to strictly enforce the rules you would not be allowed in this room at all.” He smiled, showing off a mouth that would make a horse jealous, “It seems, however, that Nanako prefers you here. As such I have allowed you to stay for the time being. Though do keep this in mind; only those with an active contract may access this room on their own. And only they may reap its benefits.”

Yu's eyes went wide “Hang on, what?” He moved to stand next to Nanako.

“Your wildcard powers remain intact," continued Margret, "and you may still acquire new personas, but we are bound to aid the active contract alone. This means you will not be able to fuse, nor store, nor summon your personas.” She looked down as she spoke, juxtaposing Igor’s matter-of-fact delivery.

“Which brings us to the matter at hand,” she turned to look at Nanako, smiling gently, “my master has informed me you have awakened your persona. I’d like to congratulate you, as this is no easy feat.”

Nanako played with her hands, “Thank you, but I did get a lot of help from big bro and his friends.”

She shook her head, “It is the bonds you share with those you hold dear that give you strength, their aid does not diminish your achievement. In fact, it adds credence to it.” She opened her tome, the pages flipping by themselves. “You have already established several bonds. Thought most still have room to grow and flourish, they lend you much power already.” The book’s pages slowed in their turning, moving one at a time as the woman continued to speak. “These bonds are represented by arcana, each arcana tied to an individual or group of people...” She proceeded to list off all the arcana that Nanako had already acquired, an animated photo of each associated person or people appearing on the corresponding page. 

The Magician, Yosuke

The Chariot, Chie

The Priestess, Yukiko

The Emperor, Kanji

The Lovers, Rise

The Star, Teddie

Fortune, Naoto

The Sun, Siu

As two more pages appeared she saw her and her friends talking in one of the moving photos. “Hey, that was today!”

Margret nodded, “Indeed. On this day you formed a closer enough with your classmates, strengthening your connection to the fool arcana. You may have felt the connection grow deeper as it occurred.”

“Oh yeah, I heard that voice say something. I think it was my persona talking to me.”

Yu smiled, “I forgot how Izinagi would mention any time I established a new bond. Trust me, you never really get used to it.”

Margret said nothing more, moving her hand to the other visible page as Yu finished his anecdote. The page showed a picture of Nanako and Yu standing in their living room on a warm summer day.

“I remember that day,” Yu’s smile grew wider, “that was the first time you ever told me ‘I love you big bro.’”

Nanako mimicked his smile, blushing slightly, “Oh right. Wow, that was so long ago. You had been doing so much for me, keeping me company whenever you were free and making me feel loved and important. I wanted to let you know I really cared, that you really were my one and only big bro.”

Margret continued, “This moment solidified Yu’s connection to you Nanako, establishing a genuine bond and unlocking the full power of the Justice arcana within him. These connections work both ways however, and as a result you now have full access to the World arcana.”

The pages turned once more, revealing a blank page and one more arcana. “The final arcana you have access to at the moment is the Hierophant.” The picture shown was one of Nanako and Ryotaro, asleep together on their couch as the credits of a movie played on the tv. 

“Dad…” She stood from her seat and moved toward Margret. She took a closer look at the moving photo, tracing her hand on the page. A small smile creeped onto her face; this moment wasn’t long ago. Her dad had gotten a night off and had promised to spend it with her. They rented the new detective loveline movie and watched it together. He had tried to make it a special night, popping popcorn and brewing hot chocolate to keep them warm on that cool autumn night. She took a deep breath before returning to her seat, letting herself dwell on the memory, trying to avoid the thought that she may never get another night like that.

Margret closed the book as Igor addressed the girl once more. “Your persona, Pu-Tai, is not made for combat like most others. Instead, his powers focus on supporting others and finding information.”

“Oh, so like Rise’s persona?” Yu asked.

“It is the same type of persona yes, though Pu-tai’s powers are quite different to those of Kanzeon.” He turned again to Nanako, “Much like Yu did before, you may be able to recruit additional personas to your side.”

“More personas?" She asked, "How would I do that?”

“You will know when the time is right. Once you have acquired more personas, we will be able to fuse and store them. The explanation for those functions of this room will be left for that time." He leaned back in his chair, "Now, have you anything to ask of us?"

She took some time to think, processing all that was just said to her. "So I have my persona now," she began, "but where am I supposed to go from here? Now that I know about the TV world I don't really have another heading."

"I unfortunately cannot say where your next step lies. I will suggest, however, that you seek out further truths. There is still much hidden from you, and the path you seek will only be revealed by searching for it."

The small group remained silent for a moment, the melody of the room providing the only sound. Nanako was the one to break the silence, standing from her seat and bowing politely. "Thank you Igor."

"You are welcome. Please, return whenever you like."

As the cousins moved towards the spectral door, Margret stood from her seat.

"Yu..."

He stopped, looking back at the woman.

"It was good to see you as well." She finished.

He nodded, and he and Nanako stepped through the threshold, closing the door behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting back into the swing of things.


	13. Puzzle Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako gets back into her routine, while looking for more information.

Tuesday October 25th, Lunchtime.

Nanako sat at her desk among her classmates, slowly eating her lunch as she looked at the piece of paper in front of her. On it were all the facts she knew regarding the case so far, which she had placed in chronological order. Since her visit with Igor the previous night she had been racking her brain on what her next move could possibly be; but the more she looked at what she had the more it seemed there just wasn't enough to go off of.

She sighed heavily, folding up the paper and putting it back in her bag. Igor was right, she would have to 'seek out further truths' as he put it. She turned to her classmates and joined their conversation. The group was focused on one classmate, who was in the middle of a story.

“...And I swear, she tried to swerve _ into _ the rabbit!” The boy spoke and moved in a very animated way, obviously passionate about the topic at hand. “Like what kind of person does that! And another time she wouldn’t let someone on because they were ten yen short on fare! TEN YEN! I don’t know what got into her, but something tells me she won’t be driving buses much longer.”

“So she wasn’t like this before?” One of the other boys asked.

“No! She was fine until just recently. Maybe a little grumpy but not mean like this.”

Nanako listened to his story, and empathized with what he was feeling. She’d be mad too if someone purposely tried to kill an animal.

Soon enough lunch was over, and classes resumed as normal.

* * *

Nanako attended her cooking club after school, as she did nearly every Tuesday. The students made fresh udon noodles with shrimp tempura, which Nanako saved to bring to Yu. On her walk home she ran into Kanji, who was knitting by the floodplain.

“Hey there Nanako,” he said, “how you doing? Not super beat up from the other night?”

“I’m doing ok,” she replied, “I’m pretty tired still, but I should be back to 100% in another day or two.”

“Damn,” he laughed to himself, “You’re tougher than you look. Took me almost a week and a half before I was back at school after I got my persona.” He paused his knitting project, “Course I wasn’t going much before then, figured it wasn’t worth the hassle.” He smiled, “Glad you’re getting back into the swing of things though.”

She gave him a nod, eyes drifting to the yarn and needles beside him, “What’re you making?” she asked.

“Just some stuff to sell at the shop,” he reached over and grabbed a knitted turtle, “trying out some new animals. Cute huh?”

She smiled, “Adorable as always.”

Just then, a low rumble emanated from Kanji’s gut.

“Oops,” he muttered, “guess I’ve been sitting out here longer than I thought. I always get hungry right as I’m getting in the groove. Ah well.”

“Hang on a second,” Nanako stopped him from putting away his things before reaching into her bag. “They might be a bit cold, but I made this in cooking club earlier.”

She handed him the noodles and shrimp.

“Wait, seriously? You sure you just want to give this to me?”

“Yeah!” she grinned, “I wasn't going to eat it anyway.”

“Well how about we share it, I feel bad taking it all for myself.”

“Fine,” she conceded, “but you eat most of it all right.”

The two sat on the grass, sharing the snack and chatting. Kanji talked about his mom and how she was doing with the store since he’s moved out. Nanako talked about school and her extra curriculars. Despite knowing Kanji for years, she seldom spent time alone with him. Part of her still thought of him as ‘Yu’s friend’ even though they still were friendly when Yu wasn’t around.

“Ya know,” he started, “I’ve always found something calming about being by the river. No matter how I’m feeling I can always relax here.”

She nodded, “I know what you mean.” She turned her eyes to the riverbed, “When my mom was around she and dad would bring me here to play. Most of my memories of mom are here, and some of my favourite memories with dad are here too.” She gave a half-hearted chuckle, “He used to avoid bringing me here after mom died, it reminded him too much of her. He learned to accept what happened though, and he became a way better dad after that.” 

Despite recalling the fond memories, a few tears started rolling down her cheeks.

“He’s been trying really hard since then, like really hard. He’s not perfect, but I see everything he’s doing. I… I hope I can tell him how much it all means to me.” 

She started to sniffle as the trickle of tears fell faster. Kanji pulled her into a hug with one arm.

“I know what it's like to be short a parent,” he started, also looking at the water, “my dad died when I was about your age, that hurt never really goes away.” He took a deep breath, “One of the last things the old man told me before he kicked it was ‘if you’re a man, you have to become strong.’ Back then I thought he was saying I wasn’t a man, but now I realize what he meant.” He held onto her tighter, turning his head to look at her, “He just wanted me to look after my mom and the people I care about is all. Not everyone can be strong all the time, so I gotta be strong enough to lend a hand. Help people up after they've fallen you know.”

The two sat for a moment, Nanako pressing her head into his chest. After a minute or so Kanji continued.

“I know I speak for everyone when I say we’re going to do everything we can to get your dad back. And no matter what happens, we’re gonna be strong when you need us to be.”

Nanako smiled, wrapping him in her arms, “Thanks so much Kanji.”

At that moment, she felt a surge of energy flow through her. Once again Pu-tai spoke in her head, “Your bonds grow deeper, and the emperor has grown stronger! Let us see where this strength will take us.”

The two sat together for another fifteen minutes before Nanako went home, Kanji picking up his craft from where he left off.

* * *

Back home, Yu and Nanako talked about their days over a fish and beef dinner. 

“Oh just so you know,” Yu mentioned, “I’ve got a test this Monday morning. So I’ll be gone Sunday afternoon until Monday after school.”

“That’s ok. I’ll be fine on my own for a day.”

He smiled, “I figured you would, but if something comes up don’t hesitate to call me or someone from the gang.” His eyebrows shot up, “That reminds me, I have something for you. Give me just a second.”

Nanako tilted her head, eyes following her bro as he bounded up the stairs to his room. He walked down moments later holding something behind his back. 

“Now it's not much, but given the circumstances I thought it best you had a way to keep in touch with everyone.” He pulled from behind his back a smartphone, one generation behind the current one. “I still had my old phone so I figured I’d activate it with a talk and text plan. It should be more useful to you than that three button emergency phone your dad got you a couple years ago.”

She took the red backed phone from him. The case was a little beat up, but the phone itself didn’t seem any worse for wear. She pressed the home button, bringing up the phone’s password screen.

“I set it to your birthday for now, but I can show you how to change it if you want.”

She typed in 0404 and sure enough the password screen was replaced with half a dozen apps, including two different games. As she started to browse the settings Yu continued,

“I have the investigation team group chats setup on there for you, as well as everyone’s individual contacts. Most of the town has pretty decent signal so you should be able to reach anyone you need whenever you need to.” He smiled as he watched the grin slowly grow on her face. “You like it?”

“This is so cool!” She beamed, “I love it! Thanks so much big bro!” She gave him a big hug.

“My pleasure,” he said, ruffling her hair.

“Here,” she started, navigating to the camera, “let's take a picture so I can have it as my background.”

The two took a silly picture, sticking their tongues out and making peace signs over their eyes. Yu managed to keep his face completely emotionless, making the picture that much funnier. Nanako already seemed to have a decent grasp on how the phone worked, setting it as her background without much fiddling in the settings.

Over the evening Yu explained some of the finer details of the phone, such as how to connect to wi-fi and when not to. As they eventually made their way to the messenger app she saw the two previously mentioned group chats. There was ‘Detective Crew (Fun times)’ and ‘Detective Crew (Serious times).’ Fun times had a few notifications on it, so she decided to see what was being said.

She giggled before responding.

>Nanako: That’s so funny!

>Chie: WFT? Who’s the rando?

>Kanji: Its nanako dummy

>Yukiko: Yu got her a phone, remember he texted the number to add to our contacts.

>Chie: …

>Chie: Oops! forgot to do that. Sorry Nanako!

>Rise: NANAKO <3<3<3<3<3

>Teddie: Nanako!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

Nanako spent the night chatting on the phone with the team, before studying and going to bed.

* * *

Thursday October 27th, After School.

Nanako sat in the living room eating a quick snack. She had dance lessons in about an hour, which gave her enough time to eat and exchange her school bag for her dance bag. Yu was out, so it was just her in the house. It had been some time since she'd been properly alone; but rather than the weight that usually came with it, today there was a sense of calm. Much had happened in the last two weeks, and it was nice to have a moment with no one around. Even if it was just a short moment.

She arrived at the dance studio with plenty of time to get changed and stretch. With the previous week having been the ordeal that it was she had forgotten completely about her lessons. Now, however, she was more than ready to get back into her routine. The class was an intermediate level, group based, Idol style class run by the husband and wife duo Gekko and Miho Matsuura. Both had previous work in the industry and had semi retired to Okina some years ago. Her dad had signed her up after much insistance from both herself as well as Kanamin and Rise after her performance at the Love Meets Bonds festival. She ended up being quite the natural, and has since developed the necessary Diligence to back up her talent with practice.

As she stretched on the studio floor, Gekko approached and sat down beside her. He always looked like he was pulled straight out of an 80s aerobics video; he was a darker skinned man with long dark hair that curled slightly at the tips. He had a well kept mustache that he would let grow into a beard around the mouth in the winter. He wore a brightly couloured, strangely patterned jumpsuit to each lesson. He apparently had a collection of such suits, as each week the pattern would differ ever so slightly. Gekko joined in stretching with Nanako, striking up a conversation at the same time.

“Good to see you Nanako!” he started, “How are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling pretty good, glad to be back. Sorry I wasn’t here last week.”

“I was about to ask about that,” he switched from his left leg to his right, “it’s not like you not to show up, especially without saying anything. I was worried something had happened.”

She gave a tired sigh, “Well actually something _ did _ happen.”

“Oh?”

“I won’t go into details but my dad’s in the hospital.”

Gekko’s happy go lucky demeanour changed in an instant, “Oh my, I’m so sorry. Is he alright?”

She shook her head, “I don’t know. The doctor’s say he’s stable, but he’s not waking up. My bro’s in from out of town to help watch the house while dad recovers.” She huffed, “But right now I don’t want to think about that. It's all I’ve been thinking about for the last two weeks. I’m starting to get tired of being sad.”

Gekko gave a soft laugh and put a hand on her shoulder, “I’ve had that feeling before. You feel what you need to feel, but if you’re looking for a good distraction this is definitely the right place.” He stood up, offering her a hand to do the same. “Now c’mon, I’ll catch you up on what we did last week before we actually start up.”

* * *

The dance lesson was exhausting, but it was the good kind of exhausting. The kind of exhausting that makes you feel like you just proved something to someone. The kind that you know you used every fibre of every muscle to achieve. Fortunately the bus stop wasn’t far from the studio, and had a bench she could wait at. 

As the bus pulled up, she was one of only three people at the stop. As she stepped on, she realized that she had left her fare in her bag. She turned to let the other passengers on as she fished for it.

“What is this your first time?” the bus driver scoffed, “hurry up kid we got places to be.”

She was having trouble with the zipper on her bag, the pressure not making things go any more smoothly. The driver kept the bus parked as she wrestled with her bag, seemingly intent on making an example out of her.

“Bus doesn’t move ‘till you pay the fair,” the driver said, “Your holdup is everyone’s holdup.” 

After thirty agonizing seconds of fiddling, she finally got the pocket she needed unzipped and was able to extract the bus fare from it. Thankfully it was already counted out. She practically jumped up to put the change in the receiver, muttering a quiet sorry as she inserted the coins.

“Inconsiderate commuters, always gotta make my job hard don’t ya?” the driver whispered, though specifically loud enough to be heard.

Only now did Nanako get a good look at the individual. She was a woman, probably early 30s. She had black hair that protruded from the back of her her uniform cap in a ponytail, and wore a scowl like it was in season. She seemed rather tired, with dark bags starting to form under her yellow eyes.

Yellow eyes?

Nananko blinked twice, rubbing her own eyes with her hand. Time seemed to slow down around her; that woman had yellow eyes, piercing yellow with an unnatural sheen to them. As she looked longer a dark mist began to drift from the woman’s skin. The woman said something, but Nanako didn’t understand it; the words seemed to jarble together in various pitches, multiple sentences being spoken on top of one another.

“Are you deaf kid? Go sit down!”

The driver’s shout brought Nanako back into the moment; time resumed normally and the mist disappeared, but the eyes remained the same anomalous yellow. Not wanting to bring forth any more rage she quickly went and took her seat, the driver loudly complaining to herself as the door closed and the bus finally started moving. After a few stops she moved to a seat closer to the front, where she could take an occasional peak at the driver. Sure enough, as the lighting changed and more riders were let on and cussed out the eyes remained the same. No one seemed distrurbed by this, ‘maybe because they’re all too scared to say something?’ Nanako thought. She considered maybe taking a picture of the driver with her phone, but didn’t quite have the Courage to go through with it. She hated being yelled at to begin with, so inviting another round of it was not something she was emotionally prepared for.

She put her earbuds in and listened to some music for the rest of her commute, trying to calm her racing heart. Yu had helped her put some of her albums on it the previous day, so there was more than enough to last the rest of the trip. As she got off at her stop, instinctively apologizing again, she decided she’d text Yu.

>Nanako: Hey, are you home right now?

No response.

She decided she’s jog home, her previous exhaustion overwritten by a sudden anxiety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It begins


	14. Detective work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako looks to take a step towards the truth, even just a small one.

Thursday October 27th, evening.

Nanako practically burst through the front door of the Dojima household, panting as she threw her shoes off and slammed the door behind her. As she rushed into the living room, she breathed a sigh of relief. Sitting at the living room table, with headphones on and surrounded by papers was Yu. He was looking closely at his laptop, completely unaware of Nanako’s entrance. She approached him from behind, careful not to step on any of his material, and put her arms on his shoulders, moving to his chest to give him a hug. He tensed up at the initial contact, but relaxed once he saw the source, taking his headphones off of one ear.

“What ‘cha working on?” She asked, now seeing the complex diagram on his screen.

“Molecular biochemistry,” he said, zooming into a figure to make the text bigger than a couple of pixels, “trying to do double duty by learning the compounds for my upcoming chemistry test as well as refreshing myself on neurotransmitters.”

“That sounds like a lot...” she said, trying to remember the long words so she could use them later. “Are you taking a break any time soon?” she asked, “there’s something I want to talk with you about.”

He zoomed even further into the image, “Give me maybe another half an hour, if I stop now I’ll lose my place in the diagram.”

“Want me to put on some coffee?”

“That depends, do you want to be the best little sister in the world?”

* * *

Nearly an hour later Yu and Nanako sat at the kitchen table, Yu sipping his coffee and Nanako having a glass of orange juice.

Yu rubbed his eyes, “I think that screen is starting to burn my retinas,” he started, “I’d turn the brightness down but the diagram is so hard to read already. I might just wait till tomorrow to continue on it and study what I have on paper for the rest of the night.” He took another big sip from his mug, “Thanks again for the coffee I’ll definitely need this.” He polished off his mug and walked to the machine to pour himself another.

“You’re welcome,” she replied. She furrowed her brow, still trying to decide exactly what she was trying to ask.

“So,” he started, mixing in his cream and sugar, “what was it you wanted to talk about?”

She hesitated, thinking back on the bus driver. 

“Something happen at dance class?” he suggested.

“No, nothing happened there. It was on the way home.” She paused again. “Are there other people like Margaret?” she eventually asked.

Yu tilted his head, “What do you mean ‘like Margaret?’”

“Like,” she bit her lip, “you know how she’s different. She lives in the velvet room, she’s got yellow eyes, things like that. Are there other people like her?”

“Well,” he started, sitting back at the table, “Margaret told me that her sister Elizabeth was once an attendant of the velvet room, but other than that I don’t think there are other people quite like her.”

Nanako frowned; the bus driver looked nothing like Margaret, save for the eyes. Even so, they seemed different than the attendant’s, though Nanako couldn’t quite pinpoint how.

“What about shadows?” she asked.

“What  _ about  _ shadows?” he repeated.

“Can shadows come into our world, are there any on this side of the tv?”

He raised an eyebrow, “Where is this coming from?”

“I…” she hesitated again, “I think I saw a shadow. Not like the monsters you described to me, but a person’s shadow. And not the shadow the sun makes but like their shadow self.”

He shook his head, “Sorry, you lost me. You think you saw a shadow on this side, but not really?”

“No its- ugh,” she frowned.

“It’s alright,” Yu leaned in a little closer, “I’m just trying to understand exactly what you’re saying. Why don’t we take it from the top so I have the whole picture.”

She took a deep breath, “Ok.”

Over the next several minutes she described in as much detail as she could her experience with the bus driver, making sure to emphasise that she definitely had yellow eyes for sure and she’s not just saying all this because she thought the driver was mean.

“Well,” Yu started once she finished, “the only shadow I know to have ever come to this side was Teddie, and I’m not sure he counts. Plus he only came to this side once he got a persona of his own.” He scratched his chin, “Did you get any info about the driver, her name or bus number?”

She shook her head, “I didn’t want to ask her name, but I know the route was the 15-2.”

“If you can find out more info on the driver you might get a better clue on what we’re dealing with. Back during the case, we usually needed to find out info about people to find them in the fog," he took another sip, "so if your powers work like Rise’s you might get a clearer picture once you know more.”

She scratched her chin, mimicking her bro, “I think I know where to start looking.

* * *

Friday October 28th, Lunchtime.

Nanako took a deep breath as she approached a group of desks where a few boys were talking, “You guys ok if I sit here?”

They each looked at her; having a silent conversation with their eyes.

“Uhh… sure! Have a seat,” one finally said.

She sat and quietly ate her lunch as the boys continued their conversation. Step one of her three step plan was complete. She had spent all morning plotting exactly what to do and say to get the information she wanted, and everything was according to plan so far. Now all she had to do was wait until the boy who moved a lot started complaining, which took no time at all.

“K, so on the way here,” he started, “I saw her actually  _ throw _ someone off the bus. Not just tell them to get off, she picked him up and threw him.”

The others were not convinced, “Seriously, why would she do something like that?”

“I think the dude was being a creep or something. Either way you can’t just do that!”

“Something tells me she didn’t ‘just do that.’”

“What bus was this?” Nanako inserted.

“Uh, the 15-2 from Okina. I live between there and Inaba so I take it here, why?”

“Well I think I met her on my way back from Okina yesterday.”

The boy's eyes lit up, “Really?! Did she have dark hair in a ponytail out her cap? A frown that would make a cartoon villain jealous? A grip on the steering wheel like she was going to rip it out of the bus? A stare that looked into your soul? A-”

“I think we’re thinking of the same person,” she cut him off, “she wouldn’t continue on the route while I was looking in my bag for fare. She made a point to let me know how much I was inconveniencing everyone.”

The boy pointed to Nanako while looking at his friends, “See! I told you this driver’s crazy mean.”

"She was really creepy too," she continued, "her eyes freaked me right out." 

The boy seemed overjoyed, "See! Stares right into your soul. Finally someone sees it too."

_ "No mention of the colour,"  _ she thought. She didn't want to blatantly ask about the eyes, that would just label her as crazy along with her classmate. The fact he never mentioned it before suggested he didn't notice, though he definitely paid attention to the gaze. She wrestled for a moment with what this could mean, but her thoughts were interrupted.

"So what's the deal?" one of the skeptical boys asked, "Is he paying you to side with him?"

"No," she shook her head, "I just remember him talking about this driver and wanted to see if I met the same person."

"Or," started the other skeptic, a grin growing on his face, "maybe you  _ like  _ him and thought being the one person who believes him would make him like you too."

Her face scrunched up, as if she was just offered a rotting fish, "What? EW no." Hearing herself, the disgust fell off her face. "N-not that you're gross, it's not like-"

She couldn't finish as the boys erupted into laughter and taunts. Growing more red by the second, she decided a tactical retreat was the best move and returned to her desk for the remainder of the period.  _ That could have gone better _ , she thought to herself,  _ but at least I got some info that might be useful _ .

* * *

After School

Nanako spent nearly three hours trying to find out any more info on the bus driver when she got home from school, though with no success. She browsed every page of the transit website, but there was no "list of drivers" page to be found.  _ Of course not,  _ she mourned,  _ that would have been too easy. _ She even went through the process of calling the support line to lodge a formal complaint, but they wouldn't give her a name; they simply mentioned that the specific driver had been getting many complaints lately. 

She decided she needed to take a break, closing the tabs on her phone and starting to prepare dinner. As the aroma of lemon-seasoned fish and vegetables filled the air a familiar thumping came from the stairs, Yu emerging from his room for the first time Nanako had seen that day. He was dressed more casually than usual, wearing a black shirt bearing a cartoon platypus and jeans. He rubbed his eyes as he walked into the kitchen. 

"Oh man," he started, "is that the time already? I've been studying so hard I think I forgot to eat lunch." He stretched, "And here I am supposed to be taking care of you," he said, smiling.

"Well I guess it's lucky I'm used to making enough for two then," she mused, putting the final touches on her meal.

She poured the two some juice as he set the table.

"Thanks for cooking," Yu said partway through the meal, "and sorry I wasn't around to greet you when you got in."

She shook her head, "It's no problem; like I said I'm used to cooking for two. And I'm also used to coming home to no one."

"Well I know but still," he paused to take another few bites, "I know I always was excited to see you when I got back to the house. So I want to greet you when you come in if I can."

She smiled, "Well you don’t need to. But I appreciate the thought."

"Of course," he replied, mouth still half full of food. He took a moment to swallow. "How's the investigation going by the way?"

She frowned, "Ok I guess. I got some good info but I can't get the driver's name. And I can’t really find out more about her until I know who she is."

“Have you reached out to the rest of the team yet?”

“Not yet, I want to have something concrete before I bring it to them.”

He took another sip of his juice, “Have you considered getting their help might make it easier to get something concrete?”

She opened her mouth to argue, then closed it. While she knew the rest of the investigation team was there to help, she still had it stuck in her head that she had to do all the legwork. Her dad often mentioned doing as much for his own cases.

“I know you’re used to doing things on your own,” he continued, “but reaching out is the best way I’ve found to get to the truth.”

“Are you ever wrong about things?” She mused.

“I thought I was once, but I was wrong.”

She tried to groan at the dad joke, but couldn’t help but chuckle. She decided now was a good a time as any, opening the ‘Serious Time’ groupchat on her phone.

>Nanako: Hey guys. I’ve got a hunch I’m working on, but I’m kinda stuck.

>Yosuke: Allright what do you need?

>Kanji: any way we can help?

>Nanako: I need any info you can get on the bus driver of the 15-2. Specifically the one that arrives in Inaba around 8:10 on weekdays.

>Chie: o…...k? Wat kind of info r u looking for?

>Nanako: Anything personal, even just her name to start. Head’s up she’s super mean.

>Chie: No being mean 2 nanako allowed!!! 😡

>Naoto: 8:10am?

>Nanako: Yeah.

>Naoto: I’ll see what I can find, I’ll have something for you by tomorrow afternoon.

>Nanako: Thank you!!

>Yu: See, friends are helpful.

She turned to her cousin, "Was that necessary?"

He chuckled, "Nope."

She sighed, smiling softly, "Well at least you're honest."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slow going is still going. Shoter chapter than most but I'm happy with hownit turned out.


	15. Dynamic Duo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako and Naoto take a step closer to the truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been two sentences away from done for weeks. I finally finished it, so now I can get started on the next one (hopefully soon)

Saturday Afternoon, October 29th

Nanako sat in the school’s computer lab with a notebook on her lap. She and the rest of her class were given time to work on their energy projects, which was good since she honestly hadn’t been working on it on her own very much. While most of the groups sat talking or gossiping while huddled around a desktop, she, Ruri, and Gina all sat adjacent to each other doing their work individually. It was tactical; rather than everyone trying to do the same thing each person did their piece that way things got done faster. Stil Nanako couldn’t help but feel a little awkward when her group was the only one not talking among themselves.

As the period approached its end she decided to take some initiative, “Alright guys, lets see what we’ve got so far.” 

The other two seemed relieved to have a break from the research. They spent the last 15 minutes discussing what they’d all found so far. It seemed the project was on good pace, and if they pulled their weight over the next few days it would be more than ready to present by friday. The whole day was mostly uneventful, pleasantly so in fact. Nanako felt good in the fact that despite all that was happening around her school life stayed mundane. 

* * *

After School

As Nanako swapped out her shoes, she couldn’t help but notice Gina a little ways down the hall. She was flanked by two boys who were talking to her, or more correctly  _ at _ her. Nanako knew these boys from class, and they weren’t known for being the friendliest people. As they spoke more and got louder Gina made herself smaller and smaller. Now, if there was one kind of person Nanako hated in this world more than criminals it was bullies. Without second thought she mustered up her Courage and strutted over to the group. As she approached she could start to make out what the boys were saying.

_ “What are you mute? C’mon we just wanna talk. You don’t have to be a baby about it.” _

“Hey Gina, ready to go?” The boys stopped as Nanako interjected. Gina however just gave her a confused look, though there was a strong fear in her eyes.

“We were going to walk home together,  _ remember? _ ” 

At this point she understood what Nanako was trying to do, nodding and quickly ducking between the boys to move beside her. Nanako gave the boys the most intense glare she could muster, which was more than sufficient to make them walk away.

The two girls exited the school and walked in silence for some time. As time went on the silence continued, only the sounds of the wind in the trees and the shoes on the ground could be heard as the two passed through the floodplain and to the residential area of Inaba. Gina would occasionally look over at Nanako, but would always look forward again before saying anything.

As they arrived at Gina’s house the girls stopped, and Gina finally spoke.

“Why did you walk all the way home with me?”

“I said I was going to, didn't I?” Nanako smiled, “Plus I wanted to make sure those two buttheads didn’t give you a hard time on your way.”

“You didn’t have to do that…” Gina said looking down, her short blond hair moving forward to block view of her eyes. “I’m used to guys like that.”

“It was no trouble,” Nanako retorted, “no one deserves to get bullied, used to it or not. Just wanted to help out.”

To two stood another moment in silence, Gina rocking slowly on her feet.

“Aren’t you going to ask,” Gina said, lifting her head slightly, “why I didn’t just say something to them?”

Nanako shrugged, “I assume you have your reasons. Besides I’m not here to pry, I just wanted you to get home safe.”

With that, a small smile crept its way onto Gina’s face. “Well… thanks.”

Nanako felt Gina’s appreciation for her. 

A voice spoke in her head,  _ “I am you, and you are me. You’ve forged a new bond! The power of the Moon is with you! Let us see where this friendship will take us.” _

“I should be getting inside,” Gina said, bringing Nanako back to reality.

“Of course,” she replied, “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

With that the girls waved goodbye, and Nanako returned home.

* * *

Evening

Yu and Nanako prepared a shrimp tempura dinner together that night, using what she’d learned from her cooking class that week. Yu suggested adding a few spices to give the batter some flavour, which ended up working fabulously.

As the two had their dinner Nananko spoke up. “Hey big bro?” she started, “How many arcana are there?”

He coughed into his drink, spilling a bit on the table.

“Oh, sorry!” She said, hands over her face.

He waved her off as if to say “don’t worry about it” as he tried to stifle his hacking.

“It’s not *cough* your fault.” He swallowed, momentarily abating his coughing fit. “I just wasn’t expecting the question is all. I never thought you’d become a part in all this, and it still throws me off a little.”

He cleared his throat, straightened his back, put his elbows on the table and crossed his hands; obviously emulating the stance Igor is always seen in. 

“As far as I’ve discovered,” he began, “there are 21 arcana to be found. Some are less common than others, but most can be found in the general populous. That said,” he paused, coughing out any remaining pop, “I have heard of other arcana existing, but I have no idea what they could be or what kind of power they could give.”

She nodded along, “That’s a lot… I don’t know if I could have twenty one close friends.”

He chuckled, “It doesn’t quite work like that. There are lots of people I don’t see anymore that I still share a bond with, most of them from high school. The key is I took the time to really get to know them, and see who they were as people.” He leaned back and smiled, “I know if I ever see them again that it’ll be like we’ve never been apart, you know?”

She nodded again, “Like how I feel whenever you come visit!” 

He gave an over enthusiastic thumbs up, “Exactly.”

As the two giggled together, her phone buzzed on the table. A text message notification from Naoto. She took the phone in her hands to check it.

>Naoto: Encountered complications, can we meet tomorrow to discuss?

She quickly typed out a response,

>Nanako: For sure!

>Naoto: Time preference?

>Nanako: Is around 11:00 ok? I need to do some homework tomorrow.

>Naoto: Yes. See you then.

“Good news?” Yu asked before carefully sipping from what was left of his pop can.

“Not exactly,” she lamented, Naoto said there were ‘complications’ and wanted to talk in person.”

He huffed, “That must be why she asked to watch you while I’m taking my test. Aside from just wanting to spend time with the best girl in Inaba.” 

She grinned ear to ear, finishing her supper with the next day on her mind.

* * *

Sunday Morning, October 30th.

Nanako was just finishing her part of her research project as the clock struck 11. Yu came down from his room carrying a backpack filled to the brim.

“Glad to see you’re still getting your studies done.” He said, checking his pockets to make sure he had everything important. “You need anything last minute before I head out?”

She shook her head, “I’ll be fine. Good luck on your test big bro!”

With that the two hugged before Yu jogged out the door towards the train station. As the door closed behind him silence took the house once more. It had been quite some time since her home was this quiet, Nanako thought to herself. It had been a blessing in all honesty; even just hearing the creak of the floorboards as Yu would walk to the bathroom or the clicking of keys as he typed at his laptop made her feel like she wasn’t alone. But now, for the first time in a while, that empiness started to creep up on her.

She took a deep breath, she’d been keeping herself busy over the last little bit, mostly ignoring her troubles. Acting like things were normal helped keep her in the right mindset, but she recognised that there was still a lot going on in her head. That said, she wasn’t going to let it stew this time. After she saw her own shadow she knew things couldn’t continue the way they were, she was going to let herself feel and reach out for help when she needed it. 

As if summoned by her thoughts, someone knocked on her front door. “Sorry I’m late,” Naoto said from the other side, “my hands are full. Could you please open the door.”

Nanako let the detective in. In one hand she carried a briefcase of some sort, in the other a travel mug with the string of a tea bag poking out the top. She wore the semi casual collared shirt and jeans combo one would often see her in on Sundays, as well as a backpack with what Nanako assumed was a change of clothes in it.

“It’s good to see you Naoto,” Nanako said.

“It’s good to see you too,” Naoto replied, setting her things down in the living room, “I hope I’m not intruding. I simply thought it would be opportune for me to watch you while Yu is gone.”

“Not at all! I didn’t really want to be alone anyway,” she ran up and gave her a hug, “I appreciate you wanting to look after me.”

Naoto returned the hug, “Well it's my pleasure,” she smiled, “are you wanting to get started on the case or do you have more to do beforehand?”

“I’m done my homework for the day, so I’m ready to get started!”

The girls sat down at the living room table, Naoto taking out a laptop and some file folders from her briefcase and setting them out. She took a moment to organize the documents as well as take out a notepad from her front pocket before she began.

“First things first, I did some looking into the case your father was working on...” she flipped through her notepad, “Most of the case is being kept confidential, your speculation of an undercover agent was correct it seems. Unfortunately that means I don’t have much additional information to share with you on the matter.” She pointed to the three folders on the table, “Everything I was able to gather are in those folders. You’re free to look at them, but the gist of the information is that an experimental drug is being tested in Inaba. The report indicates that it is similar in use to LSD, but that there may be additional reasons for its production rather than simple recreation.”

“What does LSD do?” Nanako asked.

“It causes people to hallucinate. It's not a particularly dangerous drug, and it’s addiction rate is rather low. Speculation is that the developers of this new substance are attempting to take over the market with a more addictive variant. That said there are holes in this theory, but I also am not privy to all the information.” 

Nanako nodded along, “Well some info is better than no info. Hopefully this will be useful later.”

Naoto smiled, “Indeed…” she sighed as her smile faded into a scowl, “ _ No info _ is all I was able to gather on your bus driver.”

“Is this the ‘complication’ you were talking about.”

She nodded, “I took the bus to and from Okina to try to get anything you hadn’t already learned. The woman proved more belligerent than I was capable of handling,” she shivered in her seat, “I pity the commuters that have to deal with her dailey. When I asked to see her transit ID she demanded a warrant and called me a ‘pipsqueak.’ Needless to say it was unpleasant.”

Nanako looked down, “Sorry I made you go through that.”

Naoto put her hands up, “N-no, don’t worry about it,” she stuttered, “I’ve dealt with much worse in the force.” She exhaled, “Though it’s still irritating nothing came of it.”

Nanako pondered a moment, “Did you get a good look at her eyes?”

Naoto nodded, “I noted down her general appearance to cross reference with the criminal record database. No positive results however.”

“What… colour were her eyes?”

Naoto raised an eyebrow, “They were brown, why?”

Nanako’s face journeyed from surprise to acceptance to frustration all in a moment.

“Is there a problem?” Naoto asked.

Nanako bit her lip, thinking a moment on how to best approach this. "Promise you won't laugh?"

"Of course," she replied, "I promise."

Nanako still hesitated before continuing, "When I saw her... her eyes were yellow. Like," she winced at her own words, “a shadow.”

Naoto furrowed her brow, and scratched her chin. 

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

“Well,” Naoto said, “What you saw and what I saw are at odds. But eye witnesses can be sceptical at the best of times. Would you be willing to verify your report?”

“You mean go and check?” Nanako asked.

“Exactly.” Naoto nodded, “If we both go we’ll be able to simultaneously confirm or deny what we’re seeing. And if we’re still getting different results then that’s also useful information.” She chuckled to herself, “Thought that would me we would have to endure another bus ride with her.”

Nanako smiled, “I don’t think it would be nearly as bad as long as I had you with me.” Her eyes lit up, an idea forming in her head. “Why don’t we go to Okina this afternoon! And while we’re there we could pick up some stuff for a girls’ night!”

Naoto laughed, “Well I’m not sure we’ll see our driver, it is the weekend after all. But a girls’ night does sound like a good idea. I’ve been spending so much time with other officers and with Kanji lately, it’ll be nice to relax just us girls.”

* * *

The two bused to Okina in the early afternoon. They spent multiple hours window shopping and browsing the various shops. Neither of them did much of this kind of activity; Naoto wouldn’t have been caught dead in some of these stores a few years ago and Nanako’s dad would only take her to shop if either of them were looking to actually buy something. The two ended up buying a couple containers of nail polish, renting “trial of the dragon” (supposedly one of Chie’s favourite movies) and sharing a coffee together.

“This is a lot of fun,” Nanako said as the two sat in the coffee shop, “I haven’t been out like this in a while.”

“Likewise,” Naoto said, taking a sip, “it’s been too long since I’ve had a relaxing afternoon like this.”

“Why’s that?” Nanako asked, “Can’t you relax at home?”

“Well… how do I put this.” She paused, turning her gaze out a nearby window. “When I’m on a case I’m usually out of town for a while, sometimes for a week at a time. While I’m out Kanji takes care of the home, cleaning and whatnot, so when I’m back I like to lend as much of a hand as I can. This is my own doing though, he insists I should just relax.” She chuckled to herself. “In addition I try to spend as much time with him as I can when I’m home. And while I adore him, he’s occasionally emotionally demanding.” A smile crept its way onto her face, “It’s all worth it though, I really do enjoy living with him.”

A mischievous smile formed on Nanako’s face, “Would you say you  _ looooooove  _ him?”

Naoto laughed nervously, blushing slightly, “I’d say so, yes. Though I’ve yet to say as much to him.”

“Why’s that?”

Naoto sighed, “Mostly fears with no basis in reality. I’ll tell him one day, when I’m ready.”

Nanako felt she understood Naoto a little better.

A voice spoke in her head,  _ “Your bonds grow deeper, and your Fortune grows stronger. May your friendship bring you luck.” _

Once they finished their coffees they made their way back to the bus stop. The bus arrived just moments later, opening its doors to let on the small crowd waiting at the stop. As Nanko stepped on she suddenly was very thankful that she had counted out her change already; as stating her in the face was the same driver that had been plaguing her mind. She looked exhausted, large dark bags hung under her squinted eyes. Looking a moment longer they were unmistakably yellow, just as last time. Not wanting to dawdle, Nanako quickly paid her fare and moved into the bus. Naoto attempted to do the same, but the driver addressed her as she went to scan her transit pass.

"You get your warrant yet pipsqueak?" She jeered, "or did the judges not trust a kid to know what they were talking about?"

Naoto, to her credit, didn't lose composure at all, "No questions today, just commuting."

"Might be the first smart choice you ever made," the driver yelled back as Naoto took a seat beside Nanako.

As the bus started moving Nanako could hear a couple of men behind her talking.

_ "Jeez, she's harsh." _

_ "Well I might be too if I were her. I hear she's on this route for nine or ten hours every day of the week." _

_ "Seriously?" _

_ "Yeah, I got a buddy who knows her supposedly." _

"Did you get that?" Nanako whispered to Naoto.

She nodded, turning to the chatting commuters. "Excuse me gentlemen, could I have a second of your time?" She showed them her prefectural I.D.

_ "Uhhh sure, whadda ya need?" _

"I'm conducting an investigation which may involve this particular driver. Would it be possible for you to forward the contact information of this friend of hers to me."

_ "Sorry, I don't have his contact info. But you might be able to find him on weekdays around 5pm, at the stop we were just at. I'll talk with him when commuting from work." _

Naoto jotted down a general description of the 'friend.'

"Thank you for your time gentlemen." She said, before turning back to Nanako. "Well at the very least this is something."

Nanako nodded, "And something is better than nothing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now to play more persona 5 Royal


End file.
